Best PlacesPalmers, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Palmers, 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.
Palmers ranks 2,336th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Palmers
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.
Palmers' strengths and weaknesses
Where Palmers ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 93% of towns
Where Palmers ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 21% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 22% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Palmers
A household needs to earn about $97,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Palmers home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $115,726, 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 Palmers' effective rate of 0.92%, 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 Palmers
Palmers'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 Palmers.
Who works in Palmers, and how
Work in Palmers centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Palmers
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Palmers.
What the weather is like in Palmers, month by month
Palmers sees roughly 103 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 23, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23° | 15° | 7° |
| April | 48° | 38° | 30° |
| July | 79° | 67° | 57° |
| October | 54° | 45° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Palmers
The nearest airport, Duluth International, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 157 miles away.
The best schools in and around Palmers
Schools across Palmers average a B, better than 72% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lakewood ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
- Minnehaha ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ordean East Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- East High SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Two Harbors SecondaryC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Palmers school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Palmers 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 Palmers against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Palmers
Is Palmers a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Palmers ranks 2,336th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, low crime, and clean air, and lowest on walkability and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Palmers expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $365,517. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $115,726 median income, cost of living beats 93% of towns.
Is Palmers safe?
Yes, Palmers is safer than 99% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $134 per resident a year.
Compare Palmers with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Palmers. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Palmers 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.
Palmers detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Palmers: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Palmers: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Palmers: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Palmers: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Palmers 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.