Best PlacesElton Hills, Rochester, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Elton Hills, Rochester, 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.
Elton Hills, Rochester ranks 1,077th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and transit ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Elton Hills, Rochester
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.
Elton Hills, Rochester's strengths and weaknesses
Where Elton Hills, Rochester ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
Where Elton Hills, Rochester ranks low
- TransitBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than only 11% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$1,682 a month, better than only 14% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than only 25% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Elton Hills, Rochester
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elton Hills, Rochester home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $102,511, 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 Elton Hills, Rochester's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Elton Hills, Rochester
Elton Hills, Rochester runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Elton Hills, Rochester.
Who works in Elton Hills, Rochester, and how
Work in Elton Hills, Rochester centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Elton Hills, Rochester
Elton Hills, Rochester has more parkland per resident than 91% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Elton Hills, Rochester and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Elton Hills, Rochester, month by month
Elton Hills, Rochester sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 19° | 13° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 38° |
| July | 82° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 60° | 50° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Elton Hills, Rochester
The nearest airport, Rochester International, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 68 miles away.
The best schools in and around Elton Hills, Rochester
Schools across Elton Hills, Rochester average a B, better than 78% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Washington District-wide ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Elton Hills ElementaryC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kellogg MiddleB · 46% proficient
- John Adams MiddleC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Century Senior HighB+ · 53% proficient
- John Marshall Senior HighB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elton Hills, Rochester school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elton Hills, Rochester 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 Elton Hills, Rochester against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Elton Hills, Rochester
Is Elton Hills, Rochester a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elton Hills, Rochester ranks 1,077th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on low crime, a stable housing market, and health care access, and lowest on transit and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Elton Hills, Rochester expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $266,699. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $102,511 median income, cost of living beats 81% of neighborhoods.
Is Elton Hills, Rochester safe?
Yes, Elton Hills, Rochester is safer than 96% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $204 per resident a year.
Compare Elton Hills, Rochester with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elton Hills, Rochester. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elton Hills, Rochester 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.
Elton Hills, Rochester detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elton Hills, Rochester: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elton Hills, Rochester: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elton Hills, Rochester: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elton Hills, Rochester: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elton Hills, Rochester 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.