Best PlacesPark Rapids, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Park Rapids, 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.
Park Rapids ranks 22,061st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Park Rapids
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.
Park Rapids' strengths and weaknesses
Where Park Rapids ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 134 pleasant days a year, better than 87% of towns
- BikingBetter than 86% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 82% of towns
Where Park Rapids ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 12% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,068 a month, better than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Park Rapids
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Park Rapids home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $67,962; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Park Rapids' effective rate of 0.74%, 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 Park Rapids
Park Rapids 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 Park Rapids.
Who works in Park Rapids, and how
Work in Park Rapids centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Park Rapids
Park Rapids has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Park Rapids and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Park Rapids, month by month
Park Rapids sees roughly 134 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 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 | 51° | 40° | 30° |
| July | 82° | 70° | 59° |
| October | 55° | 45° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Park Rapids
The nearest airport, Bemidji Regional, is about 39 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 168 miles away.
The best schools in and around Park Rapids
Schools across Park Rapids average a B−, better than 62% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Nevis ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Park Rapids Area Century ElementaryA · 64% proficient
- Menahga ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Park Rapids Area Century MiddleC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Nevis SecondaryB− · 45% proficient
- Menahga High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Park Rapids Senior HighC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Park Rapids school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Park Rapids 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 Park Rapids against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Park Rapids
Is Park Rapids a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Park Rapids ranks 22,061st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, walkability, and the weather, and lowest on an overheated housing market and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Park Rapids expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $282,514. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $67,962 median income, cost of living beats 36% of towns.
Is Park Rapids safe?
Yes, Park Rapids is safer than 57% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $301 per resident a year.
Compare Park Rapids with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Park Rapids. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Park Rapids 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.
Park Rapids detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Park Rapids: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Park Rapids: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Park Rapids: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Park Rapids: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Park Rapids 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.