Best PlacesPennington County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Pennington County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Pennington County ranks 441st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Pennington County
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.
Pennington County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pennington County ranks high
- Short commute12.4 minutes each way, better than 99% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 95% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 92% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
Where Pennington County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 14% of counties
- Cheap childcare$989 a month, better than only 18% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Pennington County
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pennington County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,112, 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 Pennington County's effective rate of 1.13%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Pennington County
Pennington County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Pennington County.
Who works in Pennington County, and how
Work in Pennington County centers on wholesale trade and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Pennington County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Pennington County.
Is Pennington County growing, and who is moving in?
Pennington County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Grand Forks, ND.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Pennington County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Pennington County, month by month
Pennington County sees roughly 141 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 19, with lows near 0. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 19° | 9° | 0° |
| April | 50° | 39° | 29° |
| July | 81° | 69° | 58° |
| October | 55° | 44° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Pennington County
The nearest airport, Thief River Falls Regional, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 262 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pennington County
Schools across Pennington County average a C+, better than 55% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Red Lake County Central ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Challenger ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- J.a. Hughes ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Franklin MiddleC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Lafayette SecondaryB− · 42% proficient
- Lincoln Senior HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Red Lake County Central High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pennington County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pennington County 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 Pennington County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Pennington County
Is Pennington County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pennington County ranks 441st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on short commutes, fast internet, and civic engagement, and lowest on a weak job market and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pennington County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $206,138. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $82,112 median income, cost of living beats 87% of counties.
Is Pennington County safe?
Yes, Pennington County is safer than 84% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $258 per resident a year.
Compare Pennington County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pennington County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pennington County 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.
Pennington County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pennington County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pennington County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pennington County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pennington County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pennington County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.