Best PlacesLake Bronson, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lake Bronson, 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.
Lake Bronson ranks 26,517th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Lake Bronson
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.
Lake Bronson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lake Bronson ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 86% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 128 pleasant days a year, better than 84% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 84% of towns
Where Lake Bronson ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lake Bronson
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lake Bronson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,923, 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 Lake Bronson's effective rate of 1.01%, 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 Lake Bronson
Lake Bronson 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 Lake Bronson.
Who works in Lake Bronson, and how
Work in Lake Bronson centers on agriculture & forestry and retail trade. 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 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Lake Bronson
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lake Bronson.
What the weather is like in Lake Bronson, month by month
Lake Bronson sees roughly 128 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 Lake Bronson
The nearest airport, Thief River Falls Regional, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 312 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lake Bronson
Schools across Lake Bronson average a C+, better than 41% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Kittson Central ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Karlstad ElementaryC · 35% proficient
- Lancaster ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Kittson Central SecondaryB− · 43% proficient
- Tri-county SecondaryC · 34% proficient
- Lancaster SecondaryC · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lake Bronson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lake Bronson 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 Lake Bronson against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lake Bronson
Is Lake Bronson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lake Bronson ranks 26,517th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, a stable housing market, and clean air, and lowest on civic engagement 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 Lake Bronson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $152,276. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $78,923 median income, cost of living beats 78% of towns.
Is Lake Bronson safe?
Lake Bronson is safer than 45% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $325 per resident a year.
Compare Lake Bronson with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lake Bronson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lake Bronson 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.
Lake Bronson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lake Bronson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lake Bronson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lake Bronson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lake Bronson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lake Bronson 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.