Best PlacesGoodhue County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Goodhue County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Goodhue County ranks 376th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Goodhue 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.
The best areas in Goodhue County
The parts of Goodhue County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Zumbrota & Pine Island
More households have young kids, schools score higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Kenyon
Tree cover is thinner and biking is worse.
Cannon Falls
It is quieter, though crime runs higher.
Red Wing
Commutes are shorter, though incomes run lower.
Scores across Goodhue County run from about the 17th to the 96th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Goodhue County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Goodhue County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 88% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 88% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 86% of counties
Where Goodhue County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,079 a month, better than only 13% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 31% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 37% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 43% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Goodhue County
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Goodhue County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,739, 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 Goodhue County's effective rate of 1.00%, 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 Goodhue County
Goodhue 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 Goodhue County.
Who works in Goodhue County, and how
Work in Goodhue 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 84%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Goodhue County
Goodhue County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of counties and more parkland per resident than 91% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Goodhue County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Goodhue County growing, and who is moving in?
Goodhue County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Minneapolis, MN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Goodhue County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Goodhue County, month by month
Goodhue County sees roughly 106 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 18° | 11° |
| April | 57° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 63° |
| October | 60° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Goodhue County
The nearest airport, Rochester International, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 41 miles away.
The best schools in and around Goodhue County
Schools across Goodhue County average a B−, better than 65% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Pine Island ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Spring Creek ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Goodhue ElementaryA− · 61% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pine Island MiddleA− · 58% proficient
- Northfield MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- Zumbrota-mazeppa Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Pine Island SecondaryA− · 62% proficient
- Hastings High SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- Northfield Senior HighA− · 59% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Goodhue County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Goodhue 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 Goodhue County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Goodhue County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 84% of counties and 11% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 65% of counties and health care access beats 88%.
Common questions about living in Goodhue County
Is Goodhue County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Goodhue County ranks 376th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, state infrastructure, and civic engagement, and lowest on childcare costs and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Goodhue County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $299,144. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $87,739 median income, cost of living beats 84% of counties.
Is Goodhue County safe?
Yes, Goodhue County is safer than 93% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $242 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Goodhue County?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 26 with lows near 11. That works out to about 106 pleasant days a year, more than 65% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Goodhue County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Zumbrota & Pine Island, Kenyon, and Cannon Falls. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Goodhue County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Goodhue County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Goodhue 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.
Goodhue County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Goodhue County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Goodhue County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Goodhue County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Goodhue County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Goodhue 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.