Best PlacesKnife River, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Knife River, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Knife River ranks 3,795th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Knife River
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.
Knife River's strengths and weaknesses
Where Knife River ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 93% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 93% of towns
Where Knife River ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 18% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,040 a month, better than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Knife River
A household needs to earn about $99,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Knife River home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $109,617, 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 Knife River's effective rate of 0.72%, 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 Knife River
Knife River runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Knife River.
Who works in Knife River, and how
Work in Knife River centers on hospitality & food and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Knife River
Knife River has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Knife River and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Knife River, month by month
Knife River sees roughly 104 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 23, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23° | 15° | 7° |
| April | 48° | 38° | 30° |
| July | 79° | 67° | 57° |
| October | 54° | 45° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Knife River
The nearest airport, Duluth International, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 159 miles away.
The best schools in and around Knife River
Schools across Knife River average a B, better than 67% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Minnehaha ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ordean East Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Two Harbors SecondaryC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Knife River school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Knife River 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 Knife River against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Knife River
Is Knife River a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Knife River ranks 3,795th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, clean air, and a strong job market, and lowest on an overheated housing market and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Knife River expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $384,740. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $109,617 median income, cost of living beats 90% of towns.
Is Knife River safe?
Yes, Knife River is safer than 85% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $211 per resident a year.
Compare Knife River with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Knife River. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Knife River 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.
Knife River detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Knife River: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Knife River: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Knife River: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Knife River: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Knife River 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.