Best PlacesPonsford, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ponsford, 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.
Ponsford ranks 37,490th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ponsford
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.
Ponsford's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ponsford ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 136 pleasant days a year, better than 88% of towns
- QuietBetter than 77% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 75% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 74% of towns
Where Ponsford ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 12% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 14% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ponsford
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ponsford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $55,333, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Ponsford's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 Ponsford
Ponsford 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 Ponsford.
Who works in Ponsford, and how
Work in Ponsford centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Ponsford
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ponsford.
What the weather is like in Ponsford, month by month
Ponsford sees roughly 136 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 Ponsford
The nearest airport, Bemidji Regional, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 183 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ponsford
Schools across Ponsford average a C−, better than 26% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Park Rapids Area Century ElementaryA · 64% proficient
- Frazee ElementaryB+ · 51% proficient
- Roosevelt ElementaryB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Park Rapids Area Century MiddleC · 31% proficient
- Detroit Lakes MiddleC− · 30% proficient
- Waubun ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Detroit Lakes Senior HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Park Rapids Senior HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Frazee SecondaryC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ponsford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ponsford 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 Ponsford against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ponsford
Is Ponsford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ponsford ranks 37,490th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, the weather, and quiet, and lowest on cell coverage and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ponsford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $248,054. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $55,333 median income, cost of living beats 14% of towns.
Is Ponsford safe?
Ponsford is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $375 per resident a year.
Compare Ponsford with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ponsford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ponsford 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.
Ponsford detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ponsford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ponsford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ponsford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ponsford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ponsford 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.