Best PlacesOtter Tail County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Otter Tail County, 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.
Otter Tail County ranks 765th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Otter Tail 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 Otter Tail County
The parts of Otter Tail 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.
Fergus Falls
Fewer homes sit empty, biking is better, and commutes are shorter.
Pelican Rapids
It is quieter, though schools score lower.
Perham & New York Mills
More households have young kids and advertised internet is faster.
Scores across Otter Tail County run from about the 34th to the 97th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Otter Tail County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Otter Tail County ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 93% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 146 pleasant days a year, better than 91% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 86% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 84% of counties
Where Otter Tail County ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 13% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 17% of counties
- Cheap childcare$989 a month, better than only 18% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Otter Tail County
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Otter Tail County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,762, 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 Otter Tail County's effective rate of 0.75%, 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 Otter Tail County
Otter Tail County 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 Otter Tail County.
Who works in Otter Tail County, and how
Work in Otter Tail County 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 84%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Otter Tail County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Otter Tail County.
Is Otter Tail County growing, and who is moving in?
Otter Tail County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Fargo, ND.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Otter Tail County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Otter Tail County, month by month
Otter Tail County sees roughly 146 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 20, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20° | 12° | 5° |
| April | 52° | 41° | 33° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 56° | 46° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Otter Tail County
The nearest airport, Hector International, is about 60 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 163 miles away.
The best schools in and around Otter Tail County
Schools across Otter Tail County average a B+, better than 81% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Battle Lake ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Cleveland ElementaryA · 66% proficient
- Barnesville ElementaryA− · 61% proficient
Top middle schools
- Brandon-evansville Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Kennedy Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
- Prairie Wind MiddleA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Kennedy High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Detroit Lakes Senior HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Perham Senior HighB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Otter Tail County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Otter Tail 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 Otter Tail County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Otter Tail County suits
Retirees
The weather beats 91% of counties and health care access beats 93%.
Common questions about living in Otter Tail County
Is Otter Tail County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Otter Tail County ranks 765th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on health care access, state infrastructure, and the weather, and lowest on empty homes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Otter Tail County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $280,266. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $75,762 median income, cost of living beats 54% of counties.
Is Otter Tail County safe?
Yes, Otter Tail County is safer than 86% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $270 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Otter Tail County?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 20 with lows near 5. That works out to about 146 pleasant days a year, more than 91% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Otter Tail County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Fergus Falls, Pelican Rapids, and Perham & New York Mills. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Otter Tail County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Otter Tail County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Otter Tail 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.
Otter Tail County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Otter Tail County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Otter Tail County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Otter Tail County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Otter Tail County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Otter Tail 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.