Best PlacesNowthen, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Nowthen, 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.
Nowthen ranks 1,318th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Nowthen
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.
Nowthen's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nowthen ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of towns
- Household income$158,758 median, better than 98% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 95% of towns
Where Nowthen ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,658 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 21% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 30% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 31% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Nowthen
A household needs to earn about $119,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nowthen home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $158,758, 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 Nowthen's effective rate of 0.75%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Nowthen
Nowthen's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Nowthen.
Who works in Nowthen, and how
Work in Nowthen centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 61%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 17%
Life in Nowthen
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Nowthen.
What the weather is like in Nowthen, month by month
Nowthen sees roughly 123 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 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° | 19° | 12° |
| April | 56° | 46° | 37° |
| July | 84° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 60° | 51° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Nowthen
The nearest airport, St. Cloud Regional, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 33 miles away.
The best schools in and around Nowthen
Schools across Nowthen average a B+, better than 74% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rum River ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Parker ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Twin Lakes ElementaryA · 64% proficient
Top middle schools
- Salk Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Zimmerman MiddleB · 47% proficient
- Anoka Middle School For The ArtsB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Elk River Senior HighA− · 60% proficient
- Zimmerman High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- St. Francis HighB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nowthen school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nowthen 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 Nowthen against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Nowthen
Is Nowthen a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nowthen ranks 1,318th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, high incomes, and heat safety, and lowest on childcare costs and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nowthen expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $459,259. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $158,758 median income, cost of living beats 99% of towns.
Is Nowthen safe?
Yes, Nowthen is safer than 74% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $263 per resident a year.
Compare Nowthen with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nowthen. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nowthen 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.
Nowthen detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nowthen: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nowthen: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nowthen: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nowthen: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nowthen 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.