Best PlacesEden Valley, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Eden Valley, 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.
Eden Valley ranks 11,400th 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 Eden Valley
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.
Eden Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Eden Valley ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 88% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 88% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 86% of towns
Where Eden Valley ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,327 a month, better than only 8% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 17% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 21% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Eden Valley
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Eden Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,190, 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 Eden Valley's effective rate of 0.83%, 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 Eden Valley
Eden Valley'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 Eden Valley.
Who works in Eden Valley, and how
Work in Eden Valley centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Eden Valley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Eden Valley.
What the weather is like in Eden Valley, month by month
Eden Valley sees roughly 125 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 23, with lows near 6. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23° | 14° | 6° |
| April | 53° | 42° | 33° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 57° | 47° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Eden Valley
The nearest airport, St. Cloud Regional, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 72 miles away.
The best schools in and around Eden Valley
Schools across Eden Valley average a B+, better than 70% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Eden Valley ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Lake Ripley ElementaryB+ · 51% proficient
- Paynesville ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Litchfield Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Acgc Elementary Grades 5 And 6B · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Litchfield Senior HighA− · 63% proficient
- Eden Valley SecondaryB · 49% proficient
- A.c.g.c. SecondaryC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Eden Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Eden Valley 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 Eden Valley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Eden Valley
Is Eden Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Eden Valley ranks 11,400th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, state infrastructure, and walkability, and lowest on childcare costs and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Eden Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $219,524. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $76,190 median income, cost of living beats 50% of towns.
Is Eden Valley safe?
Yes, Eden Valley is safer than 96% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $163 per resident a year.
Compare Eden Valley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Eden Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Eden Valley 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.
Eden Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Eden Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Eden Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Eden Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Eden Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Eden Valley 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.