Best PlacesVillard, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Villard, 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.
Villard ranks 16,425th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Villard
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.
Villard's strengths and weaknesses
Where Villard ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 143 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 88% of towns
- Short commute22.2 minutes each way, better than 79% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 77% of towns
Where Villard ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 13% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 23% of towns
- Cheap childcare$953 a month, better than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Villard
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Villard home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,191, 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 Villard's effective rate of 0.66%, 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 Villard
Villard 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 Villard.
Who works in Villard, and how
Work in Villard 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 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Villard
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Villard.
What the weather is like in Villard, month by month
Villard sees roughly 143 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 21, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 21° | 13° | 5° |
| April | 53° | 41° | 33° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 57° | 46° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Villard
The nearest airport, St. Cloud Regional, is about 59 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 115 miles away.
The best schools in and around Villard
Schools across Villard average a B, better than 71% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Osakis ElementaryA+ · 74% proficient
- Minnewaska Area ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Belgrade-brooten-elrosa ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Minnewaska Area Junior HighC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Sauk Centre SecondaryB · 50% proficient
- Osakis SecondaryB · 46% proficient
- Minnewaska SecondaryB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Villard school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Villard 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 Villard against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Villard
Is Villard a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Villard ranks 16,425th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, the weather, and health care access, and lowest on tree cover and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Villard expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $233,370. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $76,191 median income, cost of living beats 55% of towns.
Is Villard safe?
Yes, Villard is safer than 77% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $228 per resident a year.
Compare Villard with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Villard. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Villard 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.
Villard detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Villard: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Villard: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Villard: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Villard: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Villard 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.