Best PlacesSterling Center, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sterling Center, 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.
Sterling Center ranks 10,660th 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 Sterling Center
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.
Sterling Center's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sterling Center ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 86% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 80% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 80% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 119 pleasant days a year, better than 80% of towns
Where Sterling Center ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 8% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 11% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 12% 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 Sterling Center
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sterling Center home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,078, 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 Sterling Center's effective rate of 0.96%, 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 Sterling Center
Sterling Center runs older than the country, 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 Sterling Center.
Who works in Sterling Center, and how
Work in Sterling Center centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. 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 Sterling Center
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Sterling Center.
What the weather is like in Sterling Center, month by month
Sterling Center sees roughly 119 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 Sterling Center
The nearest airport, Mason City Municipal, is about 63 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 79 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sterling Center
Schools across Sterling Center average an A−, better than 86% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lk Crystal Wellcome Memorial ElA · 70% proficient
- Blue Earth Area ElementaryC · 31% proficient
Top middle schools
- Blue Earth Area MiddleC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Maple River SecondaryA− · 59% proficient
- Lk Crystal-wellcome Memorial SecC+ · 39% proficient
- Blue Earth Area SecondaryC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sterling Center school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sterling Center 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 Sterling Center against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sterling Center
Is Sterling Center a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sterling Center ranks 10,660th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, good schools, and what local pay buys, and lowest on internet speeds and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sterling Center expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $236,042. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $88,078 median income, cost of living beats 80% of towns.
Is Sterling Center safe?
Yes, Sterling Center is safer than 56% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $285 per resident a year.
Compare Sterling Center with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sterling Center. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sterling Center 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.
Sterling Center detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sterling Center: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sterling Center: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sterling Center: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sterling Center: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sterling Center 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.