Best PlacesMower County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Mower County, 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.
Mower County ranks 534th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Mower 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.
Mower County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mower County ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 191 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 89% of counties
- BikingBetter than 87% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 87% of counties
Where Mower County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 18% of counties
- Cheap childcare$948 a month, better than only 22% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 27% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 32% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Mower County
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mower County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,517, 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 Mower County's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 Mower County
Mower County'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 Mower County.
Who works in Mower County, and how
Work in Mower County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Mower County
Mower County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 95% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Mower County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Mower County growing, and who is moving in?
Mower County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Rochester, MN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Mower County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Mower County, month by month
Mower County sees roughly 191 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 18° | 12° |
| April | 57° | 45° | 37° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 60° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Mower County
The nearest airport, Rochester International, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 86 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mower County
Schools across Mower County average a C, better than 41% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Grand Meadow ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Blooming Prairie ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Bear Cave Intermediate SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Top middle schools
- Southland MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
- Stewartville MiddleC+ · 35% proficient
- I.j. Holton Intermediate SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Stewartville Senior HighB · 48% proficient
- Grand Meadow Senior HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Austin Senior HighC+ · 36% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mower County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mower 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 Mower County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Mower County suits
Families
Schools land around the 41st percentile and crime safety beats 87%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 7% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 99% of counties and health care access beats 58%.
Common questions about living in Mower County
Is Mower County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mower County ranks 534th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on the weather, state infrastructure, and fast internet, and lowest on taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mower County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $197,068. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $77,517 median income, cost of living beats 62% of counties.
Is Mower County safe?
Yes, Mower County is safer than 87% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $257 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Mower County?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 26 with lows near 12. That works out to about 191 pleasant days a year, more than 99% of counties.
Is Mower County good for families?
Schools beat 41% of counties, crime safety beats 87%, and childcare runs $948 a month.
Compare Mower County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mower County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mower 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.
Mower County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mower County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mower County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mower County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mower County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mower 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.