Best PlacesHennepin County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Hennepin 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.
Hennepin County ranks 64th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $111,660, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are noise, childcare costs, and taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Hennepin 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 Hennepin County
The parts of Hennepin 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.
Eden Prairie
Schools score higher, tree cover is thicker, and local pay stretches further.
Maple Grove & Plymouth
Incomes run higher, though streets are more car-dependent.
Bloomington & Edina
More adults hold degrees and crime runs lower.
Minnetonka & Orono
More residents vote, though transit reaches fewer jobs.
St. Louis Park & Golden Valley
Fewer households have young kids.
Richfield
It is noisier.
Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center & Crystal
Homes cost less, though health care is harder to reach.
St. Anthony
Scores close to Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center & Crystal, except that prices have run up more here.
Minneapolis
Biking is better, though more homes sit empty.
Hennepin County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 3% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Hennepin County's strengths and weaknesses
Hennepin County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Biking is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Transit and walkability follow.
The one real hole is noise, near the bottom of the country. Childcare costs and taxes also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Hennepin County ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of counties
- TransitBetter than 99% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of counties
Where Hennepin County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,682 a month, better than only 1% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 23% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 24% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Hennepin County
A household needs to earn about $118,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hennepin County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $111,660; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Hennepin County's effective rate of 1.12%, 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 Hennepin County
Hennepin County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Hennepin County.
Who works in Hennepin County, and how
Work in Hennepin County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 66%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Hennepin County
Hennepin County has more parkland per resident than 92% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 67% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Hennepin County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Hennepin County growing, and who is moving in?
Hennepin County has grown about 5% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Minneapolis, MN metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Hennepin County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Hennepin County, month by month
Hennepin County sees roughly 117 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 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° | 18° | 11° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 60° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Hennepin County
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 10 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 Hennepin County
Schools across Hennepin County average a B−, better than 63% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Plymouth Creek ElementaryA+ · 80% proficient
- Hale ElementaryA+ · 80% proficient
- Scenic Heights ElementaryA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wayzata East MiddleA+ · 75% proficient
- Wayzata Central MiddleA+ · 73% proficient
- Delano Intermediate SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
Top high schools
- Wayzata HighA · 79% proficient
- Edina Senior HighA · 75% proficient
- Orono Senior HighA · 71% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hennepin County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hennepin 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 Hennepin County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Hennepin County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 25% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 72% of counties and health care access beats 64%.
Common questions about living in Hennepin County
Is Hennepin County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hennepin County ranks 64th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on biking, transit, and walkability, and lowest on noise and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hennepin County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $431,853. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $111,660 median income, cost of living beats 98% of counties.
Is Hennepin County safe?
Hennepin County is safer than 24% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $477 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hennepin County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 25 with lows near 11. That works out to about 117 pleasant days a year, more than 72% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Hennepin County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Eden Prairie, Maple Grove & Plymouth, and Bloomington & Edina. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Hennepin County good for families?
Schools beat 63% of counties, crime safety beats 24%, and childcare runs $1,682 a month.
Is Hennepin County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 94% of counties. About 25% of workers already work from home.
Compare Hennepin County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hennepin County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hennepin 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.
Hennepin County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hennepin County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hennepin County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hennepin County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hennepin County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hennepin 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.