Best PlacesDebs, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Debs, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Debs ranks 28,650th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Debs
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.
Debs' strengths and weaknesses
Where Debs ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 89% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 138 pleasant days a year, better than 88% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 86% of towns
- QuietBetter than 83% of towns
Where Debs ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- Short commute38.1 minutes each way, better than only 8% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Debs
A household needs to earn about $67,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Debs home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,896, 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 Debs' effective rate of 0.73%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Debs
Debs runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Debs.
Who works in Debs, and how
Work in Debs centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Debs
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Debs.
What the weather is like in Debs, month by month
Debs sees roughly 138 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 19, with lows near 1. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 19° | 10° | 1° |
| April | 49° | 38° | 28° |
| July | 80° | 68° | 57° |
| October | 53° | 43° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Debs
The nearest airport, Bemidji Regional, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 219 miles away.
The best schools in and around Debs
Schools across Debs average a C+, better than 46% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Clearbrook-gonvick ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bemidji MiddleB− · 39% proficient
- Red Lake Middle SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Top high schools
- Bemidji Senior HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Clearbrook-gonvick SecondaryC · 32% proficient
- Red Lake SecondaryD− · 13% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Debs school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Debs 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 Debs against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Debs
Is Debs a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Debs ranks 28,650th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, fast internet, and the weather, and lowest on distance from a big city and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Debs expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $258,996. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $72,896 median income, cost of living beats 43% of towns.
Is Debs safe?
Debs is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $377 per resident a year.
Compare Debs with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Debs. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Debs 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.
Debs detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Debs: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Debs: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Debs: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Debs: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Debs 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.