Best PlacesRoseau County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Roseau County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Roseau County ranks 935th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Roseau 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.
Roseau County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Roseau County ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 93% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
- Short commute17.1 minutes each way, better than 90% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 90% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of counties
Where Roseau County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 13% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Cheap childcare$948 a month, better than only 22% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Roseau County
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Roseau County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,513, 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 Roseau County's effective rate of 0.95%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Roseau County
Roseau County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Roseau County.
Who works in Roseau County, and how
Work in Roseau County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Roseau County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Roseau County.
Is Roseau County growing, and who is moving in?
Roseau County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Minneapolis, MN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Roseau County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Roseau County, month by month
Roseau County sees roughly 145 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 17, with lows near 1. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 17° | 9° | 1° |
| April | 49° | 39° | 30° |
| July | 80° | 69° | 58° |
| October | 54° | 45° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Roseau County
The nearest airport, Thief River Falls Regional, is about 58 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 296 miles away.
The best schools in and around Roseau County
Schools across Roseau County average a B, better than 73% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Warroad ElementaryA− · 59% proficient
- Roseau ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Badger ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Badger SecondaryB · 47% proficient
- Greenbush-middle River SecondaryB− · 43% proficient
- Roseau SecondaryB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Roseau County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Roseau 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 Roseau County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Roseau County
Is Roseau County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Roseau County ranks 935th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on heat safety, state infrastructure, and short commutes, and lowest on distance from a big city and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Roseau County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $183,197. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $74,513 median income, cost of living beats 64% of counties.
Is Roseau County safe?
Yes, Roseau County is safer than 70% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $330 per resident a year.
Compare Roseau County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Roseau County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Roseau 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.
Roseau County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Roseau County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Roseau County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Roseau County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Roseau County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Roseau 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.