Best PlacesOrrock, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Orrock, 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.
Orrock ranks 2,197th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Orrock
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.
Orrock's strengths and weaknesses
Where Orrock ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of towns
- Household income$121,257 median, better than 93% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
Where Orrock ranks low
- Short commute35.6 minutes each way, better than only 12% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,041 a month, better than only 22% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 36% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 36% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Orrock
A household needs to earn about $106,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Orrock home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $121,257, 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 Orrock's effective rate of 0.93%, 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 Orrock
Orrock'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 Orrock.
Who works in Orrock, and how
Work in Orrock centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Orrock
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Orrock.
What the weather is like in Orrock, month by month
Orrock sees roughly 118 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 16° | 9° |
| April | 56° | 44° | 34° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 61° |
| October | 59° | 48° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Orrock
The nearest airport, St. Cloud Regional, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 46 miles away.
The best schools in and around Orrock
Schools across Orrock average a B+, better than 74% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Independence ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Becker MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
- Big Lake Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Princeton Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Becker Senior HighB+ · 57% proficient
- Princeton High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Big Lake Senior HighB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Orrock school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Orrock 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 Orrock against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Orrock
Is Orrock a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Orrock ranks 2,197th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, heat safety, and population health, and lowest on long commutes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Orrock expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $397,010. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $121,257 median income, cost of living beats 96% of towns.
Is Orrock safe?
Yes, Orrock is safer than 89% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $189 per resident a year.
Compare Orrock with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Orrock. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Orrock 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.
Orrock detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Orrock: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Orrock: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Orrock: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Orrock: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Orrock 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.