Best PlacesGrant County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Grant 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.
Grant County ranks 1,401st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Grant 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.
Grant County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Grant County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 146 pleasant days a year, better than 91% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 87% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 81% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 79% of counties
Where Grant County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 12% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 15% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 16% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Grant County
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Grant County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,597, 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 Grant County's effective rate of 0.86%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Grant County
Grant County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Grant County.
Who works in Grant County, and how
Work in Grant County centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Grant County
Grant County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Grant County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Grant County growing, and who is moving in?
Grant County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Douglas County, MN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Grant County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Grant County, month by month
Grant County sees roughly 146 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 20, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20° | 12° | 5° |
| April | 51° | 41° | 33° |
| July | 81° | 71° | 62° |
| October | 56° | 46° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Grant County
The nearest airport, Hector International, is about 79 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 151 miles away.
The best schools in and around Grant County
Schools across Grant County average a B, better than 76% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- West Central Area S. El.B · 50% proficient
- West Central Area N. El.B · 50% proficient
- Ashby ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Brandon-evansville Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Wca Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Brandon-evansville High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- West Central Area SecondaryB · 50% proficient
- Ashby SecondaryB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Grant County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Grant 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 Grant County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Grant County
Is Grant County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Grant County ranks 1,401st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, the weather, and health care access, and lowest on noise and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Grant County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $201,057. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $73,597 median income, cost of living beats 60% of counties.
Is Grant County safe?
Yes, Grant County is safer than 69% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $288 per resident a year.
Compare Grant County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Grant County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Grant 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.
Grant County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Grant County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Grant County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Grant County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Grant County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Grant 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.