Best PlacesNicollet County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Nicollet County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Nicollet County ranks 143rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Nicollet 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.
Nicollet County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nicollet County ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 95% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 93% of counties
- Short commute16.4 minutes each way, better than 92% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
Where Nicollet County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Cheap childcare$989 a month, better than only 18% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 28% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 29% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Nicollet County
A household needs to earn about $79,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nicollet County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,335, 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 Nicollet County's effective rate of 1.03%, 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 Nicollet County
Nicollet County runs younger 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 Nicollet County.
Who works in Nicollet County, and how
Work in Nicollet County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Nicollet County
Nicollet County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 98% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Nicollet County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Nicollet County growing, and who is moving in?
Nicollet County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Mankato, MN metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Nicollet County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Nicollet County, month by month
Nicollet County sees roughly 120 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 18° | 11° |
| April | 57° | 45° | 37° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 60° | 49° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Nicollet County
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 59 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 17.5 million passengers in 2025, with 195 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Nicollet County
Schools across Nicollet County average a B+, better than 82% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lk Crystal Wellcome Memorial ElA · 70% proficient
- Bridges Community ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Nicollet Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dakota Meadows Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Prairie Winds Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- St. Peter Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- New Ulm High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
- Mankato West Senior HighA− · 65% proficient
- Mankato East Senior HighB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nicollet County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nicollet 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 Nicollet County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Nicollet County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 88% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 13% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 74% of counties and health care access beats 82%.
Common questions about living in Nicollet County
Is Nicollet County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nicollet County ranks 143rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on few empty homes, low crime, and population health, and lowest on taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nicollet County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $291,038. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $84,335 median income, cost of living beats 88% of counties.
Is Nicollet County safe?
Yes, Nicollet County is safer than 94% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $227 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Nicollet County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 26 with lows near 11. That works out to about 120 pleasant days a year, more than 74% of counties.
Is Nicollet County good for families?
Schools beat 82% of counties, crime safety beats 94%, and childcare runs $989 a month.
Compare Nicollet County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nicollet County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nicollet 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.
Nicollet County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nicollet County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nicollet County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nicollet County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nicollet County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nicollet 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.