Best PlacesOslo, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oslo, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Oslo ranks 12,006th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Oslo
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.
Oslo's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oslo ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 135 pleasant days a year, better than 87% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 86% of towns
Where Oslo ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 7% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 16% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Cheap childcare$989 a month, better than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Oslo
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oslo home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,304, 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 Oslo's effective rate of 0.89%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Oslo
Oslo runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Oslo.
Who works in Oslo, and how
Work in Oslo centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Oslo
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Oslo.
What the weather is like in Oslo, month by month
Oslo sees roughly 135 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 19, with lows near 2. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 19° | 10° | 2° |
| April | 51° | 39° | 29° |
| July | 84° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 56° | 45° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Oslo
The nearest airport, Grand Forks International, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 294 miles away.
The best schools in and around Oslo
Schools across Oslo average a B−, better than 65% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Argyle ElementaryA · 72% proficient
- Warren ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central MiddleB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- East Grand Forks Senior HighB− · 43% proficient
- Stephen Senior HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Warren-alvarado-oslo SecondaryC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oslo school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oslo 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 Oslo against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Oslo
Is Oslo a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oslo ranks 12,006th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, state infrastructure, and a stable housing market, and lowest on tree cover and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oslo expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $167,261. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $78,304 median income, cost of living beats 70% of towns.
Is Oslo safe?
Yes, Oslo is safer than 64% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $262 per resident a year.
Compare Oslo with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oslo. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oslo 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.
Oslo detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oslo: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oslo: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oslo: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oslo: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oslo 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.