Best PlacesPine County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Pine County, 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.
Pine County ranks 2,138th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Pine 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.
Pine County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pine County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 86% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 80% of counties
- TransitBetter than 75% of counties
Where Pine County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Short commute32.1 minutes each way, better than only 9% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 10% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Pine County
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pine County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,764, 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 Pine County's effective rate of 0.84%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Pine County
Pine County 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 Pine County.
Who works in Pine County, and how
Work in Pine County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Pine County
Pine County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 94% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Pine County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Pine County growing, and who is moving in?
Pine County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Minneapolis, MN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Pine County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Pine County, month by month
Pine County sees roughly 114 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 23, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23° | 14° | 7° |
| April | 53° | 40° | 31° |
| July | 81° | 69° | 58° |
| October | 57° | 46° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Pine County
The nearest airport, Brainerd Lakes Regional, is about 65 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 81 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pine County
Schools across Pine County average a C, better than 40% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Barnum ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Braham ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- C.e. Jacobson ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Barnum SecondaryB− · 42% proficient
- Pine City SecondaryC+ · 40% proficient
- Rush City SecondaryC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pine County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pine 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 Pine County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Pine County suits
Families
Schools land around the 40th percentile and crime safety beats 70%.
Retirees
The weather beats 70% of counties and health care access beats 63%.
Common questions about living in Pine County
Is Pine County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pine County ranks 2,138th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low disaster risk, and heat safety, and lowest on a weak job market and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pine County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $238,921. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $70,764 median income, cost of living beats 34% of counties.
Is Pine County safe?
Yes, Pine County is safer than 70% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $297 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Pine County?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 23 with lows near 7. That works out to about 114 pleasant days a year, more than 70% of counties.
Is Pine County good for families?
Schools beat 40% of counties, crime safety beats 70%, and childcare runs $948 a month.
Compare Pine County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pine County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pine 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.
Pine County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pine County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pine County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pine County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pine County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pine 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.