Best PlacesDelano, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Delano, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Delano ranks 593rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Delano
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.
Delano's strengths and weaknesses
Where Delano ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 95% of towns
- BikingBetter than 94% of towns
Where Delano ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,092 a month, better than only 17% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 22% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 33% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 34% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Delano
A household needs to earn about $109,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Delano home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $115,184, 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 Delano'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 Delano
Delano runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Delano.
Who works in Delano, and how
Work in Delano centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Delano
Delano has more restaurants and bars per resident than 69% of towns and more parkland per resident than 91% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Delano and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Delano, month by month
Delano sees roughly 138 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 24, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24° | 16° | 9° |
| April | 54° | 43° | 35° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 58° | 48° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Delano
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 30 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 Delano
Schools across Delano average an A, better than 94% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Delano ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- Discovery ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Rockford Elementary Arts MagnetB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Delano Intermediate SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
- Rockford MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
- Buffalo Community MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Watertown Mayer HighA− · 67% proficient
- Delano High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
- Buffalo Senior HighB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Delano school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Delano 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 Delano against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Delano
Is Delano a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Delano ranks 593rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, civic engagement, and few empty homes, and lowest on childcare costs and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Delano expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $405,905. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $115,184 median income, cost of living beats 95% of towns.
Is Delano safe?
Yes, Delano is safer than 98% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $146 per resident a year.
Compare Delano with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Delano. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Delano 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.
Delano detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Delano: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Delano: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Delano: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Delano: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Delano 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.