Best PlacesHouston County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Houston 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.
Houston County ranks 657th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Houston 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.
Houston County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Houston County ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 83% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 81% of counties
Where Houston County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 16% of counties
- Cheap childcare$989 a month, better than only 18% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 20% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 22% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Houston County
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Houston County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $80,806, 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 Houston County's effective rate of 1.02%, 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 Houston County
Houston 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 Houston County.
Who works in Houston County, and how
Work in Houston 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 82%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Houston County
Houston County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of counties and more parkland per resident than 96% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Houston County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Houston County growing, and who is moving in?
Houston County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the La Crosse, WI metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Houston County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Houston County, month by month
Houston County sees roughly 103 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 21° | 14° |
| April | 59° | 48° | 39° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 63° | 52° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Houston County
The nearest airport, La Crosse Regional, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 119 miles away.
The best schools in and around Houston County
Schools across Houston County average a B, better than 70% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Caledonia ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Houston ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Spring Grove ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rushford-peterson MiddleB · 43% proficient
- Caledonia MiddleB− · 40% proficient
- La Crescent-hokah Middle SchoolC− · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Mabel-canton SecondaryA− · 62% proficient
- Minnesota Virtual Academy HighB · 47% proficient
- Caledonia Senior HighB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Houston County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Houston 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 Houston County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Houston County
Is Houston County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Houston County ranks 657th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on health care access, low crime, and state infrastructure, and lowest on taxes and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Houston County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $243,540. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $80,806 median income, cost of living beats 79% of counties.
Is Houston County safe?
Yes, Houston County is safer than 94% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $221 per resident a year.
Compare Houston County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Houston County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Houston 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.
Houston County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Houston County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Houston County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Houston County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Houston County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Houston 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.