Best PlacesPelican Rapids, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pelican 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.
Pelican Rapids ranks 17,117th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Pelican 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.
Pelican Rapids' strengths and weaknesses
Where Pelican Rapids ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 146 pleasant days a year, better than 91% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 83% of towns
- BikingBetter than 78% of towns
Where Pelican Rapids ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 16% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 23% of towns
- Cheap childcare$987 a month, better than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Pelican Rapids
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pelican Rapids home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $78,084; 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 Pelican Rapids' effective rate of 0.86%, 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 Pelican Rapids
Pelican Rapids runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Pelican Rapids.
Who works in Pelican Rapids, and how
Work in Pelican Rapids centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Pelican Rapids
Pelican Rapids has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Pelican Rapids and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Pelican Rapids, month by month
Pelican Rapids sees roughly 146 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 20, with lows near 4. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20° | 12° | 4° |
| April | 50° | 40° | 32° |
| July | 80° | 71° | 62° |
| October | 54° | 45° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Pelican Rapids
The nearest airport, Hector International, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 181 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pelican Rapids
Schools across Pelican Rapids average a B−, better than 63% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Viking Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Rothsay ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- Lake Park Audubon ElementaryB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Rothsay SecondaryB− · 43% proficient
- Lake Park Audubon SecondaryC+ · 40% proficient
- Pelican Rapids SecondaryC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pelican Rapids school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pelican 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 Pelican Rapids against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Pelican Rapids
Is Pelican Rapids a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pelican Rapids ranks 17,117th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, the weather, and walkability, and lowest on empty homes and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pelican Rapids expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $303,126. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $78,084 median income, cost of living beats 41% of towns.
Is Pelican Rapids safe?
Yes, Pelican Rapids is safer than 60% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $302 per resident a year.
Compare Pelican Rapids with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pelican Rapids. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pelican 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.
Pelican Rapids detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pelican Rapids: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pelican Rapids: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pelican Rapids: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pelican Rapids: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pelican 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.