Best PlacesRamsey County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Ramsey County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Ramsey County ranks 230th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $89,914, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, noise, and taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Ramsey 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.
The best areas in Ramsey County
The parts of Ramsey County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Shoreview, Roseville & Little Canada
More adults hold degrees, schools score higher, and crime runs lower.
New Brighton, Mounds View & Arden Hills
More residents vote, though streets are more car-dependent.
St. Paul
Health care is easier to reach, though fewer households have young kids.
White Bear Lake, Vadnais Heights & North St. Paul
Local pay stretches further, though transit reaches fewer jobs.
Falcon Heights & Lauderdale
Biking is better, though tree cover is thinner.
Maplewood
Homes cost less and it is quieter.
Ramsey County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 5% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Ramsey County's strengths and weaknesses
Ramsey County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Biking is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Transit and walkability follow.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. Noise and taxes also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Ramsey County ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of counties
- TransitBetter than 99% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 95% of counties
Where Ramsey County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,682 a month, better than only 1% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 1% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 20% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 21% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Ramsey County
A household needs to earn about $93,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ramsey County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $89,914; 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 Ramsey County's effective rate of 1.17%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ramsey County
Ramsey County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ramsey County.
Who works in Ramsey County, and how
Work in Ramsey County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Ramsey County
Ramsey County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 95% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Ramsey County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Ramsey County growing, and who is moving in?
Ramsey County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Minneapolis, MN metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Ramsey County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Ramsey County, month by month
Ramsey County sees roughly 124 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 Ramsey County
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 Ramsey County
Schools across Ramsey County average a C, better than 37% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Turtle Lake ElementaryA+ · 76% proficient
- Lincoln ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- Jie Ming Mandarin Immersion AcademyA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Chippewa Middle SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Highview Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Central MiddleB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Nova Classical Academy Upper SchoolA · 77% proficient
- Minnesota Online High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Mounds View Senior HighA · 74% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ramsey County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ramsey 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 Ramsey County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Ramsey County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 20% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Ramsey County
Is Ramsey County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ramsey County ranks 230th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on biking, transit, and walkability, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ramsey County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $338,719. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $89,914 median income, cost of living beats 90% of counties.
Is Ramsey County safe?
Ramsey County is safer than 22% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $458 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Ramsey County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 26 with lows near 12. That works out to about 124 pleasant days a year, more than 78% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Ramsey County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Shoreview, Roseville & Little Canada, New Brighton, Mounds View & Arden Hills, and St. Paul. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Ramsey County good for families?
Schools beat 37% of counties, crime safety beats 22%, and childcare runs $1,682 a month.
Is Ramsey County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 85% of counties. About 20% of workers already work from home.
Compare Ramsey County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ramsey County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ramsey 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.
Ramsey County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ramsey County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ramsey County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ramsey County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ramsey County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ramsey 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.