Best PlacesMotley, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Motley, 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.
Motley ranks 21,864th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Motley
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.
Motley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Motley ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 88% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 85% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 81% of towns
Where Motley ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 21% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Motley
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Motley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,602, 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 Motley's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Motley
Motley 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 Motley.
Who works in Motley, and how
Work in Motley centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Motley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Motley.
What the weather is like in Motley, month by month
Motley sees roughly 111 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 21, with lows near 4. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 21° | 12° | 4° |
| April | 52° | 41° | 31° |
| July | 82° | 70° | 60° |
| October | 56° | 46° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Motley
The nearest airport, Brainerd Lakes Regional, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 121 miles away.
The best schools in and around Motley
Schools across Motley average a B, better than 66% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Nisswa ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Pillager ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Knight ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pequot Lakes MiddleB · 44% proficient
- Pillager Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
- Motley-staples Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Pillager Senior High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Pequot Lakes Senior HighB · 48% proficient
- Staples-motley Senior HighB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Motley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Motley 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 Motley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Motley
Is Motley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Motley ranks 21,864th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, walkability, and low disaster risk, and lowest on empty homes and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Motley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $232,564. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $67,602 median income, cost of living beats 33% of towns.
Is Motley safe?
Yes, Motley is safer than 81% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $220 per resident a year.
Compare Motley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Motley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Motley 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.
Motley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Motley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Motley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Motley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Motley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Motley 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.