Best PlacesRice County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Rice 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.
Rice County ranks 301st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Rice 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 Rice County
The parts of Rice 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.
Northfield
More adults hold degrees, biking is better, and schools score higher.
Lonsdale
More households have young kids and incomes run higher.
Faribault
Local pay stretches less far and fewer residents vote.
Scores across Rice County run from about the 23rd to the 97th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Rice County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rice County ranks high
- BikingBetter than 95% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 93% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 88% of counties
Where Rice County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,079 a month, better than only 13% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 14% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 27% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 44% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Rice County
A household needs to earn about $89,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rice County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $89,963, 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 Rice County's effective rate of 1.05%, 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 Rice County
Rice County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rice County.
Who works in Rice County, and how
Work in Rice County centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Rice County
Rice County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 87% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Rice County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Rice County growing, and who is moving in?
Rice County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Minneapolis, MN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Rice County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Rice County, month by month
Rice County sees roughly 137 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 17° | 10° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 61° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Rice County
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 35 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 Rice County
Schools across Rice County average a B−, better than 65% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Bridgewater ElementaryA · 64% proficient
- Raven Stream ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Spring Creek ElementaryA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northfield MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- New Prague Middle SchoolA− · 52% proficient
- Morristown ElementaryB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- New Prague Senior HighA− · 66% proficient
- Northfield Senior HighA− · 59% proficient
- Arcadia Charter SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rice County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rice 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 Rice County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Rice County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 13% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 86% of counties and health care access beats 72%.
Common questions about living in Rice County
Is Rice County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rice County ranks 301st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on biking, heat safety, and state infrastructure, and lowest on childcare costs and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rice County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $327,965. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $89,963 median income, cost of living beats 82% of counties.
Is Rice County safe?
Yes, Rice County is safer than 78% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $279 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Rice County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 25 with lows near 10. That works out to about 137 pleasant days a year, more than 86% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Rice County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Northfield, Lonsdale, and Faribault. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Rice County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rice County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rice 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.
Rice County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rice County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rice County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rice County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rice County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rice 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.