Best PlacesLa Prairie, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around La Prairie, 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.
La Prairie ranks 17,218th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in La Prairie
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.
La Prairie's strengths and weaknesses
Where La Prairie ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- BikingBetter than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Short commute19.1 minutes each way, better than 90% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of towns
Where La Prairie ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Cheap childcare$989 a month, better than only 25% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in La Prairie
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median La Prairie home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,730, 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 La Prairie's effective rate of 1.04%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in La Prairie
La Prairie runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for La Prairie.
Who works in La Prairie, and how
Work in La Prairie centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in La Prairie
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across La Prairie.
What the weather is like in La Prairie, month by month
La Prairie 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 La Prairie
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 163 miles away.
The best schools in and around La Prairie
Schools across La Prairie average a B, better than 65% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- East Rapids ElementaryB+ · 51% proficient
- Vandyke ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Robert J. Elkington Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Greenway MiddleC+ · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Grand Rapids Senior HighA− · 63% proficient
- Greenway Senior HighB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every La Prairie school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
La Prairie 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 La Prairie against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in La Prairie
Is La Prairie a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, La Prairie ranks 17,218th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, biking, and state infrastructure, and lowest on distance from a big city and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is La Prairie expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $235,498. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $74,730 median income, cost of living beats 57% of towns.
Is La Prairie safe?
La Prairie is safer than 18% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $468 per resident a year.
Compare La Prairie with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to La Prairie. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in La Prairie 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.
La Prairie detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for La Prairie: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in La Prairie: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of La Prairie: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in La Prairie: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
La Prairie 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.