Best PlacesNisswa, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Nisswa, 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.
Nisswa ranks 6,442nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Nisswa
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.
Nisswa's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nisswa ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 97% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 90% of towns
Where Nisswa ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 27% of towns
- Cheap childcare$931 a month, better than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Nisswa
A household needs to earn about $124,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nisswa home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $95,266, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Nisswa's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 Nisswa
Nisswa 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 Nisswa.
Who works in Nisswa, and how
Work in Nisswa centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Nisswa
Nisswa has more restaurants and bars per resident than 95% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Nisswa and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Nisswa, month by month
Nisswa sees roughly 130 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 22, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22° | 13° | 5° |
| April | 53° | 41° | 32° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 60° |
| October | 57° | 47° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Nisswa
The nearest airport, Brainerd Lakes Regional, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 124 miles away.
The best schools in and around Nisswa
Schools across Nisswa average an A−, better than 81% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Eagle View ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Nisswa ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Pillager ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Forestview MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Pequot Lakes MiddleB · 44% proficient
- Pillager Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Brainerd Senior HighA− · 59% proficient
- Pillager Senior High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Pequot Lakes Senior HighB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nisswa school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nisswa 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 Nisswa against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Nisswa
Is Nisswa a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nisswa ranks 6,442nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on health care access, civic engagement, and state infrastructure, and lowest on an overheated housing market and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nisswa expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $479,853. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $95,266 median income, cost of living beats 82% of towns.
Is Nisswa safe?
Yes, Nisswa is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $278 per resident a year.
Compare Nisswa with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nisswa. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nisswa 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.
Nisswa detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nisswa: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nisswa: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nisswa: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nisswa: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nisswa 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.