Best PlacesDakota County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Dakota County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Dakota County ranks 33rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $116,059, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, noise, and taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Dakota County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Dakota County
The parts of Dakota County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Lakeville
More households have young kids, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Rosemount
More adults hold degrees and crime runs lower.
Eagan & Mendota Heights
Tree cover is thicker and prices have run up less.
Farmington
It is quieter, though transit reaches fewer jobs.
Burnsville & Apple Valley
Schools score lower.
Hastings
Streets are more walkable, though biking is worse.
Inver Grove Heights, South St. Paul & West St. Paul
Homes cost less.
Scores across Dakota County run from about the 30th to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Dakota County's strengths and weaknesses
Dakota County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Few empty homes is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. What local pay buys and biking follow.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. Noise and taxes also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Dakota County ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of counties
- BikingBetter than 98% of counties
- Household income$116,059 median, better than 96% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of counties
Where Dakota County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,682 a month, better than only 1% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 5% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 33% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 39% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Dakota County
A household needs to earn about $105,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dakota County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $116,059, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Dakota County's effective rate of 0.96%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dakota County
Dakota County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dakota County.
Who works in Dakota County, and how
Work in Dakota County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Dakota County
Dakota County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 98% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Dakota County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Dakota County growing, and who is moving in?
Dakota County has grown about 10% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Minneapolis, MN metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Dakota County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Dakota County, month by month
Dakota County sees roughly 103 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 17° | 10° |
| April | 55° | 44° | 35° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 59° | 49° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Dakota County
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 9 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 17.5 million passengers in 2025, with 195 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Dakota County
Schools across Dakota County average a B, better than 76% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Atheneum ElementaryA+ · 93% proficient
- Mendota ElementaryA+ · 78% proficient
- Cherry View ElementaryA · 69% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dakota Hills MiddleA− · 56% proficient
- Northfield MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- Century Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Eastview Senior HighA · 75% proficient
- Eagan Senior HighA · 70% proficient
- Lakeville North HighA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dakota County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dakota County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Dakota County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Dakota County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 21% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 63% of counties and health care access beats 92%.
Common questions about living in Dakota County
Is Dakota County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dakota County ranks 33rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on few empty homes, what local pay buys, and biking, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dakota County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $394,441. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $116,059 median income, cost of living beats 99% of counties.
Is Dakota County safe?
Yes, Dakota County is safer than 92% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $243 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Dakota County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 25 with lows near 10. That works out to about 103 pleasant days a year, more than 63% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Dakota County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Lakeville, Rosemount, and Eagan & Mendota Heights. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Dakota County good for families?
Schools beat 76% of counties, crime safety beats 92%, and childcare runs $1,682 a month.
Is Dakota County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 86% of counties. About 21% of workers already work from home.
Compare Dakota County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dakota County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dakota County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Dakota County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dakota County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dakota County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dakota County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dakota County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dakota County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.