Best PlacesSteele County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Steele County, 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.
Steele County ranks 218th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Steele 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.
Steele County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Steele County ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 182 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
Where Steele County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 9% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 13% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,041 a month, better than only 15% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 21% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Steele County
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Steele County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,283, 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 Steele County's effective rate of 1.16%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Steele County
Steele 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 Steele County.
Who works in Steele County, and how
Work in Steele 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 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Steele County
Steele County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 96% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Steele County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Steele County growing, and who is moving in?
Steele County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Rice County, MN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Steele County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Steele County, month by month
Steele County sees roughly 182 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 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 | 82° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 59° | 49° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Steele County
The nearest airport, Rochester International, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 56 miles away.
The best schools in and around Steele County
Schools across Steele County average a B−, better than 64% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Blooming Prairie ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Lincoln ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- Kenyon-wanamingo ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Waseca Junior HighC · 34% proficient
- Kenyon-wanamingo MiddleC · 33% proficient
- Owatonna Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Owatonna Senior HighB+ · 53% proficient
- Waseca Senior HighB− · 45% proficient
- Kenyon-wanamingo Senior HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Steele County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Steele 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 Steele County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Steele County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 88% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 9% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 98% of counties and health care access beats 80%.
Common questions about living in Steele County
Is Steele County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Steele County ranks 218th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on the weather, few empty homes, and low crime, and lowest on noise 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 Steele County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $251,435. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $88,283 median income, cost of living beats 88% of counties.
Is Steele County safe?
Yes, Steele County is safer than 93% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $234 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Steele County?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 25 with lows near 10. That works out to about 182 pleasant days a year, more than 98% of counties.
Is Steele County good for families?
Schools beat 64% of counties, crime safety beats 93%, and childcare runs $1,041 a month.
Compare Steele County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Steele County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Steele 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.
Steele County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Steele County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Steele County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Steele County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Steele County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Steele 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.