Best PlacesEast Grand Forks, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around East Grand Forks, 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.
East Grand Forks ranks 4,145th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in East Grand Forks
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.
East Grand Forks' strengths and weaknesses
Where East Grand Forks ranks high
- BikingBetter than 98% of towns
- TransitBetter than 95% of towns
- Short commute17.5 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 91% of towns
Where East Grand Forks ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 20% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in East Grand Forks
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median East Grand Forks home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $89,536, 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 East Grand Forks' effective rate of 1.13%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in East Grand Forks
East Grand Forks runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for East Grand Forks.
Who works in East Grand Forks, and how
Work in East Grand Forks centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in East Grand Forks
East Grand Forks has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of towns and more parkland per resident than 98% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of East Grand Forks and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in East Grand Forks, month by month
East Grand Forks sees roughly 135 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 19, with lows near 2. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 19° | 10° | 2° |
| April | 51° | 39° | 29° |
| July | 84° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 56° | 45° | 35° |
Flying in and out of East Grand Forks
The nearest airport, Grand Forks International, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 277 miles away.
The best schools in and around East Grand Forks
Schools across East Grand Forks average a B−, better than 59% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Warren ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
- Fisher ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- South Point ElementaryB+ · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central MiddleB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- East Grand Forks Senior HighB− · 43% proficient
- Crookston SecondaryC+ · 40% proficient
- Warren-alvarado-oslo SecondaryC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every East Grand Forks school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
East Grand Forks 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 East Grand Forks against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in East Grand Forks
Is East Grand Forks a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, East Grand Forks ranks 4,145th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, transit, and short commutes, and lowest on air quality and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is East Grand Forks expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $259,987. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $89,536 median income, cost of living beats 85% of towns.
Is East Grand Forks safe?
Yes, East Grand Forks is safer than 91% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $209 per resident a year.
Compare East Grand Forks with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to East Grand Forks. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in East Grand Forks 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.
East Grand Forks detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for East Grand Forks: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in East Grand Forks: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of East Grand Forks: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in East Grand Forks: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
East Grand Forks 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.