Best PlacesMinnesota, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Minnesota, 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.
Minnesota ranks 33,857th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Minnesota
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's strengths and weaknesses
Where Minnesota ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 92% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 124 pleasant days a year, better than 82% of towns
- QuietBetter than 78% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of towns
Where Minnesota ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 13% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 14% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 18% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Minnesota
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Minnesota home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,346, 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's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Minnesota
Minnesota's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Minnesota.
Who works in Minnesota, and how
Work in Minnesota centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Minnesota
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Minnesota.
What the weather is like in Minnesota, month by month
Minnesota sees roughly 124 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 50° | 42° |
| April | 78° | 67° | 56° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 73° |
| October | 81° | 69° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Minnesota
The nearest airport, Southwest Georgia Regional, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 142 miles away.
The best schools in and around Minnesota
Schools across Minnesota average a D+, better than 13% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Doerun Elementary SchoolD− · 11% proficient
Top middle schools
- Willie J. Williams Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Colquitt County High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Minnesota school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Minnesota 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 against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Minnesota
Is Minnesota a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Minnesota ranks 33,857th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, affordable childcare, and the weather, and lowest on air quality and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Minnesota expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $163,007. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $64,346 median income, cost of living beats 36% of towns.
Is Minnesota safe?
Minnesota is safer than 31% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $366 per resident a year.
Compare Minnesota with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Minnesota. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Minnesota 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Minnesota: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Minnesota: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Minnesota: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Minnesota: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Minnesota 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.