Best PlacesOlmsted County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Olmsted County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Olmsted County ranks 42nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $109,869, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, noise, and taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Olmsted 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.
The best areas in Olmsted County
The parts of Olmsted County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Byron
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and more adults hold degrees.
Rochester
More households have young kids, though tree cover is thinner.
Stewartville
More residents vote, though prices have run up more.
Eyota
Biking is worse and advertised internet is slower.
Scores across Olmsted County run from about the 24th to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Olmsted County's strengths and weaknesses
Olmsted County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. An educated workforce, low crime, and what local pay buys carry most of that.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. Noise and taxes also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Olmsted County ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 97% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of counties
- BikingBetter than 96% of counties
Where Olmsted County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,682 a month, better than only 1% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 11% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 30% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 42% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Olmsted County
A household needs to earn about $95,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Olmsted County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $109,869, 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 Olmsted County's effective rate of 1.01%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Olmsted County
Olmsted 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 Olmsted County.
Who works in Olmsted County, and how
Work in Olmsted County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Olmsted County
Olmsted County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 97% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Olmsted County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Olmsted County growing, and who is moving in?
Olmsted County has grown about 11% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Minneapolis, MN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Olmsted County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Olmsted County, month by month
Olmsted County sees roughly 90 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 19° | 13° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 38° |
| July | 82° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 60° | 50° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Olmsted County
The nearest airport, Rochester International, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 70 miles away.
The best schools in and around Olmsted County
Schools across Olmsted County average a B, better than 76% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Byron Intermediate SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Kasson-mantorville ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Pine Island ElementaryA · 67% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pine Island MiddleA− · 58% proficient
- Plainview-elgin-millville JuniorA− · 54% proficient
- Kasson-mantorville Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Pine Island SecondaryA− · 62% proficient
- Plainview-elgin-millville HighB+ · 57% proficient
- Zumbrota-mazeppa Senior HighB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Olmsted County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Olmsted 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 Olmsted County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Olmsted County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Olmsted County
Is Olmsted County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Olmsted County ranks 42nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on an educated workforce, low crime, and what local pay buys, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Olmsted County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $352,239. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $109,869 median income, cost of living beats 97% of counties.
Is Olmsted County safe?
Yes, Olmsted County is safer than 97% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $222 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Olmsted County?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 26 with lows near 13. That works out to about 90 pleasant days a year, more than 52% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Olmsted County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Byron, Rochester, and Stewartville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Olmsted County good for families?
Schools beat 76% of counties, crime safety beats 97%, and childcare runs $1,682 a month.
Is Olmsted County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 92% of counties. About 16% of workers already work from home.
Compare Olmsted County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Olmsted County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Olmsted 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.
Olmsted County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Olmsted County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Olmsted County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Olmsted County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Olmsted County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Olmsted 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.