Best PlacesMyrtle, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Myrtle, 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.
Myrtle ranks 10,496th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Myrtle
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.
Myrtle's strengths and weaknesses
Where Myrtle ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 201 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Short commute21.9 minutes each way, better than 80% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 78% of towns
Where Myrtle ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 16% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 18% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Myrtle
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Myrtle home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,345, 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 Myrtle's effective rate of 0.76%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Myrtle
Myrtle runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Myrtle.
Who works in Myrtle, and how
Work in Myrtle centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Myrtle
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Myrtle.
What the weather is like in Myrtle, month by month
Myrtle sees roughly 201 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 17° | 11° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 60° | 49° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Myrtle
The nearest airport, Mason City Municipal, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 91 miles away.
The best schools in and around Myrtle
Schools across Myrtle average a D+, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Glenville Emmons ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- I.j. Holton Intermediate SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Austin Senior HighC+ · 36% proficient
- Glenville-emmons SecondaryD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Myrtle school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Myrtle 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 Myrtle against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Myrtle
Is Myrtle a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Myrtle ranks 10,496th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, low crime, and state infrastructure, and lowest on tree cover and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Myrtle expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $223,476. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $84,345 median income, cost of living beats 75% of towns.
Is Myrtle safe?
Yes, Myrtle is safer than 94% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $166 per resident a year.
Compare Myrtle with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Myrtle. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Myrtle 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.
Myrtle detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Myrtle: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Myrtle: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Myrtle: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Myrtle: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Myrtle 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.