Best PlacesDawson, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dawson, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Dawson ranks 7,514th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Dawson
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.
Dawson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dawson ranks high
- Short commute14.9 minutes each way, better than 97% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 89% of towns
Where Dawson ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 15% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 21% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 33% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dawson
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dawson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,905, 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 Dawson's effective rate of 0.97%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dawson
Dawson runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dawson.
Who works in Dawson, and how
Work in Dawson centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Dawson
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dawson.
What the weather is like in Dawson, month by month
Dawson sees roughly 120 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 18° | 10° |
| April | 57° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 61° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Dawson
The nearest airport, Watertown Regional, is about 53 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 139 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dawson
Schools across Dawson average a B, better than 64% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Canby ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Madison-marietta-nassau ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Stevens ElementaryB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lac Qui Parle Valley Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Dawson-boyd SecondaryB− · 43% proficient
- Lac Qui Parle Valley SecondaryC+ · 37% proficient
- Canby SecondaryC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dawson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dawson 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 Dawson against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dawson
Is Dawson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dawson ranks 7,514th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, walkability, and state infrastructure, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dawson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $175,506. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $77,905 median income, cost of living beats 76% of towns.
Is Dawson safe?
Yes, Dawson is safer than 75% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $240 per resident a year.
Compare Dawson with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dawson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dawson 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.
Dawson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dawson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dawson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dawson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dawson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dawson 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.
- 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.