Best PlacesMahnomen County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Mahnomen 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.
Mahnomen County ranks 2,405th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mahnomen 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.
Mahnomen County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mahnomen County ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 143 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 84% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 78% of counties
Where Mahnomen County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 7% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 9% of counties
- School gradeD+, better than only 10% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 13% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Mahnomen County
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mahnomen County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,676, 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 Mahnomen 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Mahnomen County
Mahnomen County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mahnomen County.
Who works in Mahnomen County, and how
Work in Mahnomen County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Mahnomen County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mahnomen County.
Is Mahnomen County growing, and who is moving in?
Mahnomen County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Becker County, MN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Mahnomen County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Mahnomen County, month by month
Mahnomen County sees roughly 143 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 17, with lows near 0. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 17° | 8° | 0° |
| April | 49° | 38° | 29° |
| July | 79° | 67° | 57° |
| October | 53° | 42° | 34° |
Flying in and out of Mahnomen County
The nearest airport, Bemidji Regional, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 209 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mahnomen County
Schools across Mahnomen County average a D+, better than 10% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Magelssen ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Mahnomen ElementaryD+ · 22% proficient
- Naytahwaush Community SchoolD · 17% proficient
Top middle schools
- Waubun ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Fosston SecondaryB− · 43% proficient
- Waubun SecondaryD+ · 24% proficient
- Mahnomen SecondaryD · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mahnomen County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mahnomen 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 Mahnomen County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Mahnomen County
Is Mahnomen County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mahnomen County ranks 2,405th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on heat safety, state infrastructure, and the weather, and lowest on a weak job market and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mahnomen County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $155,314. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $59,676 median income, cost of living beats 18% of counties.
Is Mahnomen County safe?
Mahnomen County is safer than 13% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $517 per resident a year.
Compare Mahnomen County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mahnomen County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mahnomen 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.
Mahnomen County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mahnomen County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mahnomen County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mahnomen County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mahnomen County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mahnomen 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.