Best PlacesIsanti County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Isanti 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.
Isanti County ranks 445th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Isanti 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 Isanti County
The parts of Isanti 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.
Isanti
More households have young kids, biking is better, and more residents vote.
Cambridge
Fewer homes sit empty, though it is noisier.
Braham
Scores across Isanti County run from about the 30th to the 81st percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Isanti County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Isanti County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 91% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of counties
Where Isanti County ranks low
- Short commute30.7 minutes each way, better than only 13% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,041 a month, better than only 15% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 31% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 34% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Isanti County
A household needs to earn about $83,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Isanti County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,353, 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 Isanti County's effective rate of 0.99%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Isanti County
Isanti County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Isanti County.
Who works in Isanti County, and how
Work in Isanti County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Isanti County
Isanti County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Isanti County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Isanti County growing, and who is moving in?
Isanti County has grown about 14% 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 Isanti County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Isanti County, month by month
Isanti County sees roughly 101 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 17° | 10° |
| April | 55° | 44° | 35° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 59° | 49° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Isanti County
The nearest airport, St. Cloud Regional, is about 39 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 46 miles away.
The best schools in and around Isanti County
Schools across Isanti County average a B, better than 74% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- St. Francis ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Cambridge Intermediate SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Braham ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cambridge Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- Art & Science Academy Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Princeton Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Princeton High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Cambridge-isanti High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- St. Francis HighB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Isanti County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Isanti 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 Isanti County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Isanti County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 83% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 12% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 61% of counties and health care access beats 73%.
Common questions about living in Isanti County
Is Isanti County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Isanti County ranks 445th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, civic engagement, and state infrastructure, and lowest on long commutes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Isanti County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $311,161. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $87,353 median income, cost of living beats 83% of counties.
Is Isanti County safe?
Yes, Isanti County is safer than 98% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $213 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Isanti County?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 25 with lows near 10. That works out to about 101 pleasant days a year, more than 61% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Isanti County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Isanti, Cambridge, and Braham. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Isanti County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Isanti County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Isanti 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.
Isanti County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Isanti County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Isanti County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Isanti County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Isanti County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Isanti 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.