Best PlacesSwanburg, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Swanburg, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Swanburg ranks 8,607th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Swanburg
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.
Swanburg's strengths and weaknesses
Where Swanburg ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 88% of towns
Where Swanburg ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 16% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 17% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Swanburg
A household needs to earn about $117,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Swanburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $85,071, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Swanburg's effective rate of 0.56%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Swanburg
Swanburg 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 Swanburg.
Who works in Swanburg, and how
Work in Swanburg centers on construction and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 30%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Swanburg
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Swanburg.
What the weather is like in Swanburg, month by month
Swanburg sees roughly 137 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 21, with lows near 4. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 21° | 12° | 4° |
| April | 50° | 39° | 30° |
| July | 79° | 68° | 58° |
| October | 54° | 44° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Swanburg
The nearest airport, Brainerd Lakes Regional, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 138 miles away.
The best schools in and around Swanburg
Schools across Swanburg average a B−, better than 59% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pine River-backus ElementaryB− · 41% proficient
- Northland ElementaryD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Pine River-backus High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Northland SecondaryD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Swanburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Swanburg 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 Swanburg against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Swanburg
Is Swanburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Swanburg ranks 8,607th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on health care access, a strong job market, and state infrastructure, and lowest on an overheated housing market and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Swanburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $462,666. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $85,071 median income, cost of living beats 76% of towns.
Is Swanburg safe?
Yes, Swanburg is safer than 78% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $230 per resident a year.
Compare Swanburg with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Swanburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Swanburg 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.
Swanburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Swanburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Swanburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Swanburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Swanburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Swanburg 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.