Best PlacesItasca County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Itasca 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.
Itasca County ranks 1,124th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Itasca 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.
Itasca County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Itasca County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 88% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 86% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 84% of counties
Where Itasca County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 15% of counties
- Cheap childcare$989 a month, better than only 18% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 18% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Itasca County
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Itasca County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,783, 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 Itasca County's effective rate of 0.89%, 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 Itasca County
Itasca 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 Itasca County.
Who works in Itasca County, and how
Work in Itasca County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Itasca County
Itasca County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Itasca County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Itasca County growing, and who is moving in?
Itasca County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Minneapolis, MN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Itasca County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Itasca County, month by month
Itasca County sees roughly 124 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 21, with lows near 3. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 21° | 12° | 3° |
| April | 50° | 39° | 29° |
| July | 80° | 68° | 57° |
| October | 54° | 45° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Itasca County
The nearest airport, Range Regional, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 169 miles away.
The best schools in and around Itasca County
Schools across Itasca County average a B, better than 77% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lincoln ElementaryB+ · 54% proficient
- Cohasset ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- East Rapids ElementaryB+ · 51% proficient
Top middle schools
- Robert J. Elkington Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Greenway MiddleC+ · 35% proficient
- Middle Area Learning CenterF · 8% proficient
Top high schools
- Grand Rapids Senior HighA− · 63% proficient
- Greenway Senior HighB · 47% proficient
- Hibbing HighB · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Itasca County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Itasca 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 Itasca County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Itasca County suits
Retirees
The weather beats 78% of counties, health care access beats 88%, and it is quieter than 63%.
Common questions about living in Itasca County
Is Itasca County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Itasca County ranks 1,124th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, state infrastructure, and health care access, and lowest on taxes and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Itasca County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $231,230. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $69,783 median income, cost of living beats 47% of counties.
Is Itasca County safe?
Yes, Itasca County is safer than 61% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $318 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Itasca County?
July highs average about 80 degrees, and January highs near 21 with lows near 3. That works out to about 124 pleasant days a year, more than 78% of counties.
Is Itasca County good for families?
Schools beat 77% of counties, crime safety beats 61%, and childcare runs $989 a month.
Compare Itasca County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Itasca County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Itasca 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.
Itasca County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Itasca County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Itasca County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Itasca County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Itasca County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Itasca 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.