Best PlacesMahtowa, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mahtowa, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Mahtowa ranks 15,871st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mahtowa
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.
Mahtowa's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mahtowa ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 89% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 86% of towns
Where Mahtowa ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 11% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 21% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mahtowa
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mahtowa home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $86,917, 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 Mahtowa's effective rate of 0.91%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Mahtowa
Mahtowa runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mahtowa.
Who works in Mahtowa, and how
Work in Mahtowa centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Mahtowa
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mahtowa.
What the weather is like in Mahtowa, month by month
Mahtowa sees roughly 90 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 22, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22° | 14° | 7° |
| April | 48° | 38° | 29° |
| July | 79° | 67° | 57° |
| October | 54° | 45° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Mahtowa
The nearest airport, Duluth International, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 119 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mahtowa
Schools across Mahtowa average a B−, better than 63% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Barnum ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- Barnum SecondaryB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mahtowa school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mahtowa 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 Mahtowa against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mahtowa
Is Mahtowa a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mahtowa ranks 15,871st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, heat safety, and low disaster risk, and lowest on internet speeds and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mahtowa expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $262,479. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $86,917 median income, cost of living beats 69% of towns.
Is Mahtowa safe?
Yes, Mahtowa is safer than 86% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $203 per resident a year.
Compare Mahtowa with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mahtowa. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mahtowa 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.
Mahtowa detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mahtowa: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mahtowa: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mahtowa: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mahtowa: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mahtowa 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.