Best PlacesSmiths Mill, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Smiths Mill, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Smiths Mill ranks 7,239th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Smiths Mill
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.
Smiths Mill's strengths and weaknesses
Where Smiths Mill ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 90% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 87% of towns
Where Smiths Mill ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 18% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Smiths Mill
A household needs to earn about $86,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Smiths Mill home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $99,748, 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 Smiths Mill'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 Smiths Mill
Smiths Mill runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Smiths Mill.
Who works in Smiths Mill, and how
Work in Smiths Mill centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Smiths Mill
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Smiths Mill.
What the weather is like in Smiths Mill, month by month
Smiths Mill sees roughly 121 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 18° | 11° |
| April | 57° | 45° | 37° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 60° | 49° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Smiths Mill
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 58 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 Smiths Mill
Schools across Smiths Mill average a B−, better than 60% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Waterville ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- St. Clair ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Janesville-waldorf-pemberton El.em.B+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Waterville-elysian-morristown Jr.C · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Waterville-elysian-morristown Sr.B− · 45% proficient
- St. Clair SecondaryC− · 30% proficient
- Janesville-waldorf-pemberton SecC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Smiths Mill school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Smiths Mill 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 Smiths Mill against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Smiths Mill
Is Smiths Mill a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Smiths Mill ranks 7,239th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low crime, and population health, and lowest on internet speeds and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Smiths Mill expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $318,069. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $99,748 median income, cost of living beats 87% of towns.
Is Smiths Mill safe?
Yes, Smiths Mill is safer than 92% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $180 per resident a year.
Compare Smiths Mill with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Smiths Mill. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Smiths Mill 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.
Smiths Mill detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Smiths Mill: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Smiths Mill: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Smiths Mill: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Smiths Mill: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Smiths Mill 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.