Best PlacesTwo Harbors, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Two Harbors, 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.
Two Harbors ranks 17,890th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Two Harbors
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.
Two Harbors' strengths and weaknesses
Where Two Harbors ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of towns
- BikingBetter than 96% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
Where Two Harbors ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 12% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 15% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,075 a month, better than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Two Harbors
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Two Harbors home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,847, 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 Two Harbors' effective rate of 0.51%, 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 Two Harbors
Two Harbors 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 Two Harbors.
Who works in Two Harbors, and how
Work in Two Harbors centers on health care & social and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Two Harbors
Two Harbors has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of towns and more parkland per resident than 94% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Two Harbors and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Two Harbors, month by month
Two Harbors sees roughly 104 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 23, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23° | 15° | 7° |
| April | 48° | 38° | 30° |
| July | 79° | 67° | 57° |
| October | 54° | 45° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Two Harbors
The nearest airport, Duluth International, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 166 miles away.
The best schools in and around Two Harbors
Schools across Two Harbors average a B−, better than 62% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lakewood ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
- Minnehaha ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- William Kelley ElementaryB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hermantown MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Ordean East Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- East High SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Wm. M. Kelley SecondaryB− · 40% proficient
- Two Harbors SecondaryC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Two Harbors school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Two Harbors 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 Two Harbors against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Two Harbors
Is Two Harbors a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Two Harbors ranks 17,890th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, walkability, and biking, and lowest on an overheated housing market and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Two Harbors expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $255,524. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $70,847 median income, cost of living beats 43% of towns.
Is Two Harbors safe?
Two Harbors is safer than 51% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $317 per resident a year.
Compare Two Harbors with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Two Harbors. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Two Harbors 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.
Two Harbors detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Two Harbors: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Two Harbors: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Two Harbors: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Two Harbors: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Two Harbors 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.