Best PlacesDowner, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Downer, 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.
Downer ranks 4,202nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Downer
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.
Downer's strengths and weaknesses
Where Downer ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 91% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 91% of towns
Where Downer ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 9% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Downer
A household needs to earn about $95,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Downer home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $108,366, 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 Downer's effective rate of 0.99%, 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 Downer
Downer'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 Downer.
Who works in Downer, and how
Work in Downer centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Downer
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Downer.
What the weather is like in Downer, month by month
Downer sees roughly 141 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 20, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20° | 12° | 5° |
| April | 51° | 41° | 32° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 57° | 46° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Downer
The nearest airport, Hector International, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 204 miles away.
The best schools in and around Downer
Schools across Downer average a B+, better than 73% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Barnesville ElementaryA− · 61% proficient
- Viking Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Spring Prairie ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dilworth-glyndon-felton Middle SchC+ · 39% proficient
- Horizon Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Hawley SecondaryB+ · 58% proficient
- Moorhead High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Dilworth-glyndon-felton Senior HighB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Downer school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Downer 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 Downer against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Downer
Is Downer a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Downer ranks 4,202nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, heat safety, and state infrastructure, and lowest on biking and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Downer expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $352,833. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $108,366 median income, cost of living beats 90% of towns.
Is Downer safe?
Yes, Downer is safer than 96% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $157 per resident a year.
Compare Downer with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Downer. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Downer 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.
Downer detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Downer: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Downer: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Downer: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Downer: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Downer 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.