Best PlacesHolmes City, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Holmes City, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Holmes City ranks 6,495th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Holmes City
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.
Holmes City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Holmes City ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 146 pleasant days a year, better than 91% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 88% of towns
Where Holmes City ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 11% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 15% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Holmes City
A household needs to earn about $98,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Holmes City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $92,069; 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 Holmes City's effective rate of 0.78%, 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 Holmes City
Holmes City 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 Holmes City.
Who works in Holmes City, and how
Work in Holmes City centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Holmes City
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Holmes City.
What the weather is like in Holmes City, month by month
Holmes City sees roughly 146 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 21, with lows near 6. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 21° | 13° | 6° |
| April | 53° | 42° | 33° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 57° | 47° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Holmes City
The nearest airport, St. Cloud Regional, is about 74 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 130 miles away.
The best schools in and around Holmes City
Schools across Holmes City average a B+, better than 78% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Garfield ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Lincoln ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- West Central Area S. El.B · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Brandon-evansville Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Discovery Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Wca Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Brandon-evansville High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Alexandria Area High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- West Central Area SecondaryB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Holmes City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Holmes City 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 Holmes City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Holmes City
Is Holmes City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Holmes City ranks 6,495th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on health care access, civic engagement, and state infrastructure, and lowest on empty homes and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Holmes City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $376,600. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $92,069 median income, cost of living beats 81% of towns.
Is Holmes City safe?
Yes, Holmes City is safer than 88% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $195 per resident a year.
Compare Holmes City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Holmes City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Holmes City 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.
Holmes City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Holmes City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Holmes City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Holmes City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Holmes City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Holmes City 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.