Best PlacesPayne Phallen, St. Paul, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Payne Phallen, St. Paul, 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.
Payne Phallen, St. Paul ranks 3,371st of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Payne Phallen, St. Paul
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.
Payne Phallen, St. Paul's strengths and weaknesses
Where Payne Phallen, St. Paul ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than 87% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 82% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 74% of neighborhoods
Where Payne Phallen, St. Paul ranks low
- School gradeD−, better than only 9% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$1,682 a month, better than only 14% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 16% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 19% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 26% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Payne Phallen, St. Paul
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Payne Phallen, St. Paul home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,639, 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 Payne Phallen, St. Paul's effective rate of 1.11%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Payne Phallen, St. Paul
Payne Phallen, St. Paul runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Payne Phallen, St. Paul.
Who works in Payne Phallen, St. Paul, and how
Work in Payne Phallen, St. Paul centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Payne Phallen, St. Paul
Payne Phallen, St. Paul has more parkland per resident than 88% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Payne Phallen, St. Paul and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Payne Phallen, St. Paul, month by month
Payne Phallen, St. Paul sees roughly 128 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 19° | 12° |
| April | 57° | 46° | 37° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 60° | 50° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Payne Phallen, St. Paul
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 10 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 17.5 million passengers in 2025, with 195 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Payne Phallen, St. Paul
Schools across Payne Phallen, St. Paul average a D−, better than 9% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Saint Paul Music AcademyD · 19% proficient
- Phalen Lake Hmong Studies MagnetD · 17% proficient
- Life PrepD · 16% proficient
Top middle schools
- Farnsworth Aerospace UpperD− · 16% proficient
- Community Of Peace Academy MiddleF · 12% proficient
- Battle Creek MiddleF · 7% proficient
Top high schools
- Face To Face AcademyD+ · 25% proficient
- Community Of Peace Academy High SchD+ · 24% proficient
- Johnson Senior HighD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Payne Phallen, St. Paul school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Payne Phallen, St. Paul 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 Payne Phallen, St. Paul against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Payne Phallen, St. Paul suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Payne Phallen, St. Paul
Is Payne Phallen, St. Paul a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Payne Phallen, St. Paul ranks 3,371st of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on a stable housing market, heat safety, and state infrastructure, and lowest on the schools and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Payne Phallen, St. Paul expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $241,403. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $69,639 median income, cost of living beats 48% of neighborhoods.
Is Payne Phallen, St. Paul safe?
Payne Phallen, St. Paul is safer than 33% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $591 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Payne Phallen, St. Paul?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 26 with lows near 12. That works out to about 128 pleasant days a year, more than 66% of neighborhoods.
Is Payne Phallen, St. Paul good for families?
Schools beat 9% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 33%, and childcare runs $1,682 a month.
Compare Payne Phallen, St. Paul with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Payne Phallen, St. Paul. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Payne Phallen, St. Paul 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.
Payne Phallen, St. Paul detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Payne Phallen, St. Paul: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Payne Phallen, St. Paul: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Payne Phallen, St. Paul: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Payne Phallen, St. Paul: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Payne Phallen, St. Paul 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.