Best PlacesMeeker County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Meeker County, 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.
Meeker County ranks 689th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Meeker 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.
Meeker County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Meeker County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 87% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 78% of counties
Where Meeker County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Cheap childcare$948 a month, better than only 22% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 26% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 28% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 38% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Meeker County
A household needs to earn about $67,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Meeker County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,510, 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 Meeker County's effective rate of 0.85%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Meeker County
Meeker County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Meeker County.
Who works in Meeker County, and how
Work in Meeker County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Meeker County
Meeker County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Meeker County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Meeker County growing, and who is moving in?
Meeker County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Minneapolis, MN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Meeker County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Meeker County, month by month
Meeker County sees roughly 101 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 24, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24° | 16° | 9° |
| April | 55° | 44° | 35° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 59° | 49° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Meeker County
The nearest airport, St. Cloud Regional, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around Meeker County
Schools across Meeker County average a B+, better than 87% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Dassel ElementaryA+ · 83% proficient
- Cokato ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Annandale Elementary SchoolA · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dassel-cokato MiddleA · 67% proficient
- Litchfield Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Hutchinson MiddleA− · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Litchfield Senior HighA− · 63% proficient
- Hutchinson Senior HighB+ · 56% proficient
- Dassel-cokato Senior HighB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Meeker County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Meeker 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 Meeker County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Meeker County suits
Retirees
The weather beats 61% of counties and health care access beats 90%.
Common questions about living in Meeker County
Is Meeker County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Meeker County ranks 689th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, state infrastructure, and health care access, and lowest on taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Meeker County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $253,972. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $76,510 median income, cost of living beats 58% of counties.
Is Meeker County safe?
Yes, Meeker County is safer than 94% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $221 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Meeker County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 24 with lows near 9. That works out to about 101 pleasant days a year, more than 61% of counties.
Is Meeker County good for families?
Schools beat 87% of counties, crime safety beats 94%, and childcare runs $948 a month.
Compare Meeker County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Meeker County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Meeker 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.
Meeker County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Meeker County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Meeker County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Meeker County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Meeker County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Meeker 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.