Best PlacesFreeborn County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Freeborn County, 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.
Freeborn County ranks 917th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Freeborn 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.
Freeborn County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Freeborn County ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 200 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 82% of counties
- Short commute19.6 minutes each way, better than 81% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 79% of counties
Where Freeborn County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 17% of counties
- Cheap childcare$948 a month, better than only 22% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 24% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 24% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Freeborn County
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Freeborn County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,542, 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 Freeborn County's effective rate of 1.10%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Freeborn County
Freeborn County runs older 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 Freeborn County.
Who works in Freeborn County, and how
Work in Freeborn County 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 87%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Freeborn County
Freeborn County has more parkland per resident than 69% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Freeborn County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Freeborn County growing, and who is moving in?
Freeborn County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Minneapolis, MN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Freeborn County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Freeborn County, month by month
Freeborn County sees roughly 200 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 17° | 11° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 60° | 49° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Freeborn County
The nearest airport, Mason City Municipal, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around Freeborn County
Schools across Freeborn County average a C, better than 37% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lake Mills Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Blooming Prairie ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Lakeview ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lake Mills Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- I.j. Holton Intermediate SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Southwest MiddleC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Lake Mills Senior High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Alden-conger SecondaryC+ · 40% proficient
- United South Central High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Freeborn County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Freeborn 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 Freeborn County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Freeborn County suits
Families
Schools land around the 37th percentile and crime safety beats 60%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 100% of counties and health care access beats 69%.
Common questions about living in Freeborn County
Is Freeborn County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Freeborn County ranks 917th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on the weather, state infrastructure, and fast internet, and lowest on taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Freeborn County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $175,064. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $73,542 median income, cost of living beats 63% of counties.
Is Freeborn County safe?
Yes, Freeborn County is safer than 60% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $339 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Freeborn County?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 25 with lows near 11. That works out to about 200 pleasant days a year, more than 100% of counties.
Is Freeborn County good for families?
Schools beat 37% of counties, crime safety beats 60%, and childcare runs $948 a month.
Compare Freeborn County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Freeborn County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Freeborn 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.
Freeborn County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Freeborn County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Freeborn County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Freeborn County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Freeborn County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Freeborn 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.