Best PlacesThor, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Thor, 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.
Thor ranks 38,543rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Thor
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.
Thor's strengths and weaknesses
Where Thor ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 86% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 85% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 125 pleasant days a year, better than 83% of towns
Where Thor ranks low
- Short commute38.4 minutes each way, better than only 7% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Thor
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Thor home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $52,327, 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 Thor's effective rate of 0.58%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Thor
Thor 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 Thor.
Who works in Thor, and how
Work in Thor centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Thor
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Thor.
What the weather is like in Thor, month by month
Thor sees roughly 125 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 23, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23° | 14° | 7° |
| April | 51° | 40° | 31° |
| July | 80° | 68° | 57° |
| October | 55° | 45° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Thor
The nearest airport, Brainerd Lakes Regional, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 109 miles away.
The best schools in and around Thor
Schools across Thor average a C+, better than 48% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rippleside ElementaryB+ · 51% proficient
- Isle ElementaryC+ · 35% proficient
- Mcgregor ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Aitkin Secondary SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Isle SecondaryC · 32% proficient
- Mcgregor SecondaryC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Thor school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Thor 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 Thor against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Thor
Is Thor a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Thor ranks 38,543rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, state infrastructure, and tree cover, and lowest on long commutes and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Thor expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $249,597. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $52,327 median income, cost of living beats 8% of towns.
Is Thor safe?
Yes, Thor is safer than 70% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $269 per resident a year.
Compare Thor with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Thor. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Thor 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.
Thor detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Thor: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Thor: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Thor: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Thor: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Thor 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.