Best PlacesMoose Lake, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Moose Lake, 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.
Moose Lake ranks 26,686th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Moose Lake
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.
Moose Lake's strengths and weaknesses
Where Moose Lake ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- BikingBetter than 92% of towns
- TransitBetter than 90% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 88% of towns
Where Moose Lake ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 14% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 20% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Moose Lake
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Moose Lake home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,380, 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 Moose Lake's effective rate of 1.01%, 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 Moose Lake
Moose Lake 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 Moose Lake.
Who works in Moose Lake, and how
Work in Moose Lake centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Moose Lake
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Moose Lake.
What the weather is like in Moose Lake, month by month
Moose Lake sees roughly 109 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 24, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24° | 15° | 7° |
| April | 52° | 40° | 30° |
| July | 80° | 68° | 57° |
| October | 56° | 45° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Moose Lake
The nearest airport, Duluth International, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 110 miles away.
The best schools in and around Moose Lake
Schools across Moose Lake average a B−, better than 57% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Barnum ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Moose Lake ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Willow River ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Barnum SecondaryB− · 42% proficient
- Moose Lake SecondaryC+ · 40% proficient
- Willow River SecondaryD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Moose Lake school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Moose Lake 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 Moose Lake against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Moose Lake
Is Moose Lake a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Moose Lake ranks 26,686th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, biking, and transit, and lowest on a weak job market and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Moose Lake expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $221,060. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $75,380 median income, cost of living beats 37% of towns.
Is Moose Lake safe?
Moose Lake is safer than 54% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $343 per resident a year.
Compare Moose Lake with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Moose Lake. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Moose Lake 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.
Moose Lake detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Moose Lake: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Moose Lake: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Moose Lake: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Moose Lake: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Moose Lake 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.