Best PlacesMahnomen, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mahnomen, 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 ranks 33,151st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mahnomen
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's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mahnomen ranks high
- Short commute17.3 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 142 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of towns
- BikingBetter than 86% of towns
Where Mahnomen ranks low
- School gradeD, better than only 8% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 13% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 13% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mahnomen
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mahnomen home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,845, 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's effective rate of 0.93%, 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 5 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
Mahnomen runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mahnomen.
Who works in Mahnomen, and how
Work in Mahnomen centers on health care & social and arts & entertainment. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Mahnomen
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mahnomen.
What the weather is like in Mahnomen, month by month
Mahnomen sees roughly 142 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
The nearest airport, Bemidji Regional, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 212 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mahnomen
Schools across Mahnomen average a D, better than 8% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Magelssen ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Norman County East ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- Mahnomen ElementaryD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Waubun ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Fosston SecondaryB− · 43% proficient
- Norman County East SecondaryC · 30% proficient
- Waubun SecondaryD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mahnomen school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mahnomen 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 against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mahnomen
Is Mahnomen a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mahnomen ranks 33,151st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, walkability, and state infrastructure, and lowest on the schools and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mahnomen expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $120,453. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $53,845 median income, cost of living beats 20% of towns.
Is Mahnomen safe?
Mahnomen is safer than 17% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $482 per resident a year.
Compare Mahnomen with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mahnomen. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mahnomen 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mahnomen: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mahnomen: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mahnomen: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mahnomen: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mahnomen 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.