Best PlacesMinnesota City, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Minnesota City, 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.
Minnesota City ranks 20,448th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Minnesota City
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.
Minnesota City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Minnesota City ranks high
- Short commute17.4 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- BikingBetter than 92% of towns
- TransitBetter than 90% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 88% of towns
Where Minnesota City ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 28% of towns
- Cheap childcare$948 a month, better than only 30% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 37% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Minnesota City
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Minnesota City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,597, 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 Minnesota City's effective rate of 0.88%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Minnesota City
Minnesota City's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Minnesota City.
Who works in Minnesota City, and how
Work in Minnesota City centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Minnesota City
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Minnesota City.
What the weather is like in Minnesota City, month by month
Minnesota City sees roughly 132 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 21° | 14° |
| April | 57° | 46° | 37° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 60° | 50° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Minnesota City
The nearest airport, La Crosse Regional, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 92 miles away.
The best schools in and around Minnesota City
Schools across Minnesota City average a B−, better than 52% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lewiston-altura ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Goodview ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lewiston-altura Intermediate ElB+ · 52% proficient
- Winona MiddleC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Winona Senior HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Lewiston-altura SecondaryC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Minnesota City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Minnesota City 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 Minnesota City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Minnesota City
Is Minnesota City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Minnesota City ranks 20,448th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, state infrastructure, and biking, and lowest on noise and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Minnesota City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $238,249. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $68,597 median income, cost of living beats 38% of towns.
Is Minnesota City safe?
Yes, Minnesota City is safer than 82% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $220 per resident a year.
Compare Minnesota City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Minnesota City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Minnesota City 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.
Minnesota City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Minnesota City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Minnesota City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Minnesota City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Minnesota City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Minnesota City 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.