Best PlacesKittson County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Kittson 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.
Kittson County ranks 1,607th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kittson 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.
Kittson County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kittson County ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
- Short commute19.1 minutes each way, better than 84% of counties
Where Kittson County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 9% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 15% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Kittson County
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kittson County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,185, 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 Kittson County's effective rate of 0.86%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Kittson County
Kittson 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 Kittson County.
Who works in Kittson County, and how
Work in Kittson County centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Kittson County
Kittson County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of counties and more parkland per resident than 99% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Kittson County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Kittson County growing, and who is moving in?
Kittson County has lost about 10% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Waseca County, MN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Kittson County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Kittson County, month by month
Kittson County sees roughly 131 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 17, with lows near 1. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 17° | 9° | 1° |
| April | 50° | 39° | 30° |
| July | 81° | 70° | 58° |
| October | 54° | 44° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Kittson County
The nearest airport, Thief River Falls Regional, is about 53 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 314 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kittson County
Schools across Kittson County average a B−, better than 59% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Kittson Central ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Greenbush ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Karlstad ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Greenbush-middle River SecondaryB− · 43% proficient
- Kittson Central SecondaryB− · 43% proficient
- Tri-county SecondaryC · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kittson County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kittson 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 Kittson County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Kittson County
Is Kittson County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kittson County ranks 1,607th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on health care access, a stable housing market, and clean air, and lowest on a weak job market 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 Kittson County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $137,359. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $74,185 median income, cost of living beats 74% of counties.
Is Kittson County safe?
Kittson County is safer than 35% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $382 per resident a year.
Compare Kittson County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kittson County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kittson 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.
Kittson County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kittson County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kittson County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kittson County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kittson County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kittson 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.