Best PlacesFillmore County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Fillmore County, 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.
Fillmore County ranks 641st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Fillmore County
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.
Fillmore County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fillmore County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 146 pleasant days a year, better than 91% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 85% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 83% of counties
Where Fillmore County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Short commute25.8 minutes each way, better than only 38% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 39% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 44% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Fillmore County
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fillmore County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,729, 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 Fillmore County's effective rate of 0.82%, 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 Fillmore County
Fillmore County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Fillmore County.
Who works in Fillmore County, and how
Work in Fillmore County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Fillmore County
Fillmore County has more parkland per resident than 95% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Fillmore County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Fillmore County growing, and who is moving in?
Fillmore County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Rochester, MN metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Fillmore County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Fillmore County, month by month
Fillmore County sees roughly 146 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 24, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24° | 17° | 11° |
| April | 55° | 44° | 36° |
| July | 81° | 71° | 62° |
| October | 58° | 48° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Fillmore County
The nearest airport, Rochester International, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 99 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fillmore County
Schools across Fillmore County average a B−, better than 67% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Chatfield Elementary SchoolA · 62% proficient
- St. Charles ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Bear Cave Intermediate SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rushford-peterson MiddleB · 43% proficient
- Stewartville MiddleC+ · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Crestwood High SchoolA− · 66% proficient
- Mabel-canton SecondaryA− · 62% proficient
- Chatfield SecondaryB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fillmore County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fillmore County 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 Fillmore County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Fillmore County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 71% of counties and 12% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 91% of counties, health care access beats 90%, and it is quieter than 74%.
Common questions about living in Fillmore County
Is Fillmore County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fillmore County ranks 641st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, the weather, and health care access, and lowest on internet speeds and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fillmore County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $230,839. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $78,729 median income, cost of living beats 71% of counties.
Is Fillmore County safe?
Yes, Fillmore County is safer than 83% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $271 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Fillmore County?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 24 with lows near 11. That works out to about 146 pleasant days a year, more than 91% of counties.
Is Fillmore County good for families?
Schools beat 67% of counties, crime safety beats 83%, and childcare runs $776 a month.
Compare Fillmore County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fillmore County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fillmore County 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.
Fillmore County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fillmore County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fillmore County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fillmore County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fillmore County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fillmore County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.