Best PlacesRoyalton, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Royalton, 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.
Royalton ranks 11,804th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Royalton
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.
Royalton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Royalton ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- TransitBetter than 90% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 84% of towns
Where Royalton ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 22% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 23% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 26% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Royalton
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Royalton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $86,141, 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 Royalton's effective rate of 0.83%, 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 Royalton
Royalton runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Royalton.
Who works in Royalton, and how
Work in Royalton centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Royalton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Royalton.
What the weather is like in Royalton, month by month
Royalton sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 22, with lows near 6. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22° | 14° | 6° |
| April | 52° | 41° | 32° |
| July | 81° | 69° | 58° |
| October | 56° | 46° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Royalton
The nearest airport, St. Cloud Regional, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 83 miles away.
The best schools in and around Royalton
Schools across Royalton average a B, better than 65% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Foley ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Pioneer ElementaryA− · 55% proficient
- Royalton ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Foley Intermediate ElementaryB+ · 48% proficient
- Sauk Rapids-rice Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Royalton Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Sauk Rapids-rice Senior HighB+ · 57% proficient
- Royalton High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Foley Senior HighB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Royalton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Royalton 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 Royalton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Royalton
Is Royalton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Royalton ranks 11,804th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low crime, and transit, and lowest on taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Royalton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $289,011. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $86,141 median income, cost of living beats 71% of towns.
Is Royalton safe?
Yes, Royalton is safer than 93% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $186 per resident a year.
Compare Royalton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Royalton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Royalton 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.
Royalton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Royalton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Royalton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Royalton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Royalton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Royalton 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.