Best PlacesHovland, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hovland, 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.
Hovland ranks 32,590th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hovland
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.
Hovland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hovland ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Short commute19.1 minutes each way, better than 90% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 88% of towns
Where Hovland ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 13% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hovland
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hovland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $64,261; 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 Hovland's effective rate of 0.59%, 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 Hovland
Hovland 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 Hovland.
Who works in Hovland, and how
Work in Hovland centers on retail trade and public administration. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Hovland
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hovland.
What the weather is like in Hovland, month by month
Hovland sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 71 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs July through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 18° | 11° |
| April | 44° | 36° | 30° |
| July | 71° | 60° | 53° |
| October | 53° | 46° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Hovland
The nearest airport, Houghton County Memorial, is about 86 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 256 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hovland
Schools across Hovland average a C+, better than 43% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sawtooth Mountain ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cook County MiddleD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Cook County Senior HighB− · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hovland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hovland 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 Hovland against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hovland
Is Hovland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hovland ranks 32,590th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, tree cover, and state infrastructure, and lowest on distance from a big city and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hovland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $255,700. The overall cost of living runs about 14% above the national average. Set against a $64,261 median income, cost of living beats 13% of towns.
Is Hovland safe?
Hovland is safer than 12% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $528 per resident a year.
Compare Hovland with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hovland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hovland 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.
Hovland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hovland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hovland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hovland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hovland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hovland 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.