Best PlacesFaribault, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Faribault, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Faribault ranks 1,361st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on the weather, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Faribault
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.
Faribault's strengths and weaknesses
Where Faribault ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 178 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of cities
- Short commute20.0 minutes each way, better than 87% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 78% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 69% of cities
Where Faribault ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 16% of cities
- School gradeC−, better than only 16% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 19% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 21% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Faribault
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Faribault home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $69,867; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Faribault's effective rate of 1.01%, 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 Faribault
Faribault'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 Faribault.
Who works in Faribault, and how
Work in Faribault centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Faribault
Faribault has more parkland per resident than 92% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Faribault and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Faribault, month by month
Faribault sees roughly 178 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 17° | 10° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 61° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Faribault
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 41 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 Faribault
Schools across Faribault average a C−, better than 16% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Bridgewater ElementaryA · 64% proficient
- Waterville ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Kenyon-wanamingo ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northfield MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- Morristown ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- Waterville-elysian-morristown Jr.C · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Northfield Senior HighA− · 59% proficient
- Waterville-elysian-morristown Sr.B− · 45% proficient
- Kenyon-wanamingo Senior HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Faribault school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Faribault 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 Faribault against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Faribault suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Faribault
Is Faribault a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Faribault ranks 1,361st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on the weather, state infrastructure, and short commutes, and lowest on a weak job market and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Faribault expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $273,263. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $69,867 median income, cost of living beats 25% of cities.
Is Faribault safe?
Faribault is safer than 49% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $329 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Faribault?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 25 with lows near 10. That works out to about 178 pleasant days a year, more than 89% of cities.
Is Faribault good for families?
Schools beat 16% of cities, crime safety beats 49%, and childcare runs $1,079 a month.
Compare Faribault with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Faribault. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Faribault 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.
Faribault detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Faribault: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Faribault: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Faribault: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Faribault: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Faribault 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.