Best PlacesMorrison County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Morrison County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Morrison County ranks 1,309th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Morrison 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.
The best areas in Morrison County
The parts of Morrison County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Royalton
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and fewer homes sit empty.
Pierz
Little Falls
Commutes are shorter, though it is noisier.
Scores across Morrison County run from about the 13th to the 81st percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Morrison County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Morrison County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 86% of counties
- TransitBetter than 72% of counties
Where Morrison County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 19% of counties
- Short commute28.6 minutes each way, better than only 22% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 39% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Morrison County
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Morrison County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,631, 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 Morrison County's effective rate of 0.84%, 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 Morrison County
Morrison County 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 Morrison County.
Who works in Morrison County, and how
Work in Morrison County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Morrison County
Morrison County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Morrison County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Morrison County growing, and who is moving in?
Morrison County has grown about 5% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from St Cloud, MN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Morrison County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Morrison County, month by month
Morrison County sees roughly 110 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 22, with lows near 6. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22° | 14° | 6° |
| April | 52° | 41° | 32° |
| July | 81° | 69° | 58° |
| October | 56° | 46° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Morrison County
The nearest airport, Brainerd Lakes Regional, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 93 miles away.
The best schools in and around Morrison County
Schools across Morrison County average a C+, better than 54% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Holdingford ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Foley ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Pillager ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Foley Intermediate ElementaryB+ · 48% proficient
- Melrose MiddleB− · 42% proficient
- Pillager Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Pillager Senior High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Royalton High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Foley Senior HighB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Morrison County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Morrison 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 Morrison County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Morrison County suits
Families
Schools land around the 54th percentile and crime safety beats 96%.
Retirees
The weather beats 68% of counties and health care access beats 86%.
Common questions about living in Morrison County
Is Morrison County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Morrison County ranks 1,309th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, state infrastructure, and heat safety, and lowest on a weak job market and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Morrison County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $252,304. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $70,631 median income, cost of living beats 46% of counties.
Is Morrison County safe?
Yes, Morrison County is safer than 96% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $225 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Morrison County?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 22 with lows near 6. That works out to about 110 pleasant days a year, more than 68% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Morrison County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Royalton, Pierz, and Little Falls. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Morrison County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Morrison County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Morrison 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.
Morrison County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Morrison County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Morrison County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Morrison County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Morrison County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Morrison 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.