Best PlacesMcGregor, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around McGregor, 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.
McGregor ranks 34,675th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in McGregor
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.
McGregor's strengths and weaknesses
Where McGregor ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 84% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 82% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 120 pleasant days a year, better than 80% of towns
Where McGregor ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 11% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 12% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in McGregor
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median McGregor home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $59,804; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 McGregor's effective rate of 0.57%, 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 McGregor
McGregor 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 McGregor.
Who works in McGregor, and how
Work in McGregor centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in McGregor
McGregor has more restaurants and bars per resident than 95% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of McGregor and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in McGregor, month by month
McGregor sees roughly 120 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 23, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23° | 14° | 7° |
| April | 51° | 40° | 31° |
| July | 80° | 68° | 57° |
| October | 55° | 45° | 38° |
Flying in and out of McGregor
The nearest airport, Brainerd Lakes Regional, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 122 miles away.
The best schools in and around McGregor
Schools across McGregor average a C, better than 34% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mcgregor ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Mcgregor SecondaryC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every McGregor school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
McGregor 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 McGregor against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in McGregor
Is McGregor a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, McGregor ranks 34,675th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low disaster risk, and clean air, and lowest on empty homes and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is McGregor expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $243,722. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $59,804 median income, cost of living beats 12% of towns.
Is McGregor safe?
McGregor is safer than 52% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $306 per resident a year.
Compare McGregor with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to McGregor. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in McGregor 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.
McGregor detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for McGregor: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in McGregor: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of McGregor: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in McGregor: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
McGregor 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.