Best PlacesGrandy, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Grandy, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Grandy ranks 11,251st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Grandy
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.
Grandy's strengths and weaknesses
Where Grandy ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 83% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 82% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 82% of towns
Where Grandy ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Short commute33.1 minutes each way, better than only 20% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,041 a month, better than only 22% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 23% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Grandy
A household needs to earn about $91,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Grandy home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $95,685, 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 Grandy's effective rate of 0.85%, 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 Grandy
Grandy'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 Grandy.
Who works in Grandy, and how
Work in Grandy centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Grandy
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Grandy.
What the weather is like in Grandy, month by month
Grandy sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 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 | 55° | 44° | 35° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 59° | 49° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Grandy
The nearest airport, St. Cloud Regional, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 52 miles away.
The best schools in and around Grandy
Schools across Grandy average a B, better than 69% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cambridge Intermediate SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Braham ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- C.e. Jacobson ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cambridge Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Cambridge-isanti High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Rush City SecondaryC+ · 40% proficient
- Braham Area SecondaryC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Grandy school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Grandy 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 Grandy against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Grandy
Is Grandy a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Grandy ranks 11,251st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, heat safety, and low crime, and lowest on taxes and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Grandy expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $346,484. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $95,685 median income, cost of living beats 78% of towns.
Is Grandy safe?
Yes, Grandy is safer than 83% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $211 per resident a year.
Compare Grandy with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Grandy. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Grandy 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.
Grandy detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Grandy: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Grandy: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Grandy: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Grandy: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Grandy 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.