Best PlacesGodahl, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Godahl, 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.
Godahl ranks 13,311th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Godahl
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.
Godahl's strengths and weaknesses
Where Godahl ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 86% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 127 pleasant days a year, better than 84% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 82% of towns
- Short commute22.1 minutes each way, better than 79% of towns
Where Godahl ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 15% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 17% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Godahl
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Godahl home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,502, 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 Godahl's effective rate of 0.89%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Godahl
Godahl 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 Godahl.
Who works in Godahl, and how
Work in Godahl centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Godahl
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Godahl.
What the weather is like in Godahl, month by month
Godahl sees roughly 127 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 17° | 10° |
| April | 56° | 44° | 35° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 62° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Godahl
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 87 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 Godahl
Schools across Godahl average a B−, better than 59% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Comfrey ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Sleepy Eye ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- Jefferson ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- New Ulm High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
- Sleepy Eye Sec.B · 47% proficient
- Springfield SecondaryC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Godahl school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Godahl 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 Godahl against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Godahl
Is Godahl a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Godahl ranks 13,311th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, health care access, and the weather, and lowest on biking and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Godahl expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $261,019. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $81,502 median income, cost of living beats 73% of towns.
Is Godahl safe?
Godahl is safer than 51% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $304 per resident a year.
Compare Godahl with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Godahl. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Godahl 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.
Godahl detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Godahl: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Godahl: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Godahl: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Godahl: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Godahl 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.