Best PlacesRed Lake County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Red Lake 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.
Red Lake County ranks 801st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Red Lake 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.
Red Lake County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Red Lake County ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 142 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 89% of counties
Where Red Lake County ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 9% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 17% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 19% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Red Lake County
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Red Lake County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,803, 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 Red Lake County's effective rate of 1.01%, 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 Red Lake County
Red Lake 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 Red Lake County.
Who works in Red Lake County, and how
Work in Red Lake County centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Red Lake County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Red Lake County.
Is Red Lake County growing, and who is moving in?
Red Lake County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Pennington County, MN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Red Lake County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Red Lake County, month by month
Red Lake County sees roughly 142 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 Red Lake County
The nearest airport, Thief River Falls Regional, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 249 miles away.
The best schools in and around Red Lake County
Schools across Red Lake County average a B−, better than 66% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Win-e-mac ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
- Red Lake County Central ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Challenger ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Franklin MiddleC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Win-e-mac SecondaryB− · 43% proficient
- Lafayette SecondaryB− · 42% 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 Red Lake County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Red Lake 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 Red Lake County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Red Lake County
Is Red Lake County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Red Lake County ranks 801st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on fast internet, state infrastructure, and health care access, and lowest on civic engagement 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 Red Lake County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $166,076. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $75,803 median income, cost of living beats 78% of counties.
Is Red Lake County safe?
Red Lake County is safer than 53% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $340 per resident a year.
Compare Red Lake County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Red Lake County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Red Lake 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.
Red Lake County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Red Lake County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Red Lake County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Red Lake County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Red Lake County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Red Lake 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.