Best PlacesInver Grove Heights, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Inver Grove Heights, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Inver Grove Heights ranks 334th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Inver Grove Heights
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.
Inver Grove Heights' strengths and weaknesses
Where Inver Grove Heights ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 95% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 92% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 88% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of cities
Where Inver Grove Heights ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,682 a month, better than only 8% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 9% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 27% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 28% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 44% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Inver Grove Heights
A household needs to earn about $113,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Inver Grove Heights home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $111,665; 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 Inver Grove Heights' effective rate of 0.94%, 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 Inver Grove Heights
Inver Grove Heights runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Inver Grove Heights.
Who works in Inver Grove Heights, and how
Work in Inver Grove Heights 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 70%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Inver Grove Heights
Inver Grove Heights has more parkland per resident than 94% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Inver Grove Heights and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Inver Grove Heights, month by month
Inver Grove Heights sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 19° | 13° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 37° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 60° | 50° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Inver Grove Heights
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 9 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 Inver Grove Heights
Schools across Inver Grove Heights average a B, better than 76% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Atheneum ElementaryA+ · 93% proficient
- Woodland ElementaryA · 69% proficient
- Red Pine ElementaryA · 64% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dakota Hills MiddleA− · 56% proficient
- Rosemount MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
- Friendly Hills MiddleB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Two Rivers High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- School Of Environmental StudiesB− · 45% proficient
- Simley Senior HighB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Inver Grove Heights school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Inver Grove Heights 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 Inver Grove Heights against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Inver Grove Heights suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 84% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 24% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Inver Grove Heights
Is Inver Grove Heights a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Inver Grove Heights ranks 334th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on few empty homes, a stable housing market, and state infrastructure, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Inver Grove Heights expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $425,933. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $111,665 median income, cost of living beats 84% of cities.
Is Inver Grove Heights safe?
Yes, Inver Grove Heights is safer than 72% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $267 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Inver Grove Heights?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 26 with lows near 13. That works out to about 85 pleasant days a year, more than 49% of cities.
Is Inver Grove Heights good for families?
Schools beat 76% of cities, crime safety beats 72%, and childcare runs $1,682 a month.
Compare Inver Grove Heights with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Inver Grove Heights. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Inver Grove Heights 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.
Inver Grove Heights detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Inver Grove Heights: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Inver Grove Heights: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Inver Grove Heights: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Inver Grove Heights: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Inver Grove Heights 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.