Best PlacesOuting, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Outing, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Outing ranks 32,952nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Outing
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.
Outing's strengths and weaknesses
Where Outing ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 134 pleasant days a year, better than 87% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 82% of towns
Where Outing ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 11% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Outing
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Outing home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $61,918, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Outing's effective rate of 0.46%, 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 Outing
Outing 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 Outing.
Who works in Outing, and how
Work in Outing centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Outing
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Outing.
What the weather is like in Outing, month by month
Outing sees roughly 134 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 20, with lows near 2. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20° | 11° | 2° |
| April | 50° | 39° | 29° |
| July | 79° | 68° | 58° |
| October | 53° | 44° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Outing
The nearest airport, Brainerd Lakes Regional, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 140 miles away.
The best schools in and around Outing
Schools across Outing average a D+, better than 12% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Eagle View ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Rippleside ElementaryB+ · 51% proficient
- Pine River-backus ElementaryB− · 41% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hill City Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Aitkin Secondary SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Pine River-backus High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Mcgregor SecondaryC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Outing school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Outing 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 Outing against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Outing
Is Outing a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Outing ranks 32,952nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, state infrastructure, and health care access, and lowest on an overheated housing market and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Outing expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $284,199. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $61,918 median income, cost of living beats 24% of towns.
Is Outing safe?
Yes, Outing is safer than 63% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $264 per resident a year.
Compare Outing with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Outing. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Outing 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.
Outing detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Outing: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Outing: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Outing: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Outing: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Outing 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.