Best PlacesVining, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Vining, 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.
Vining ranks 16,977th 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 Vining
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.
Vining's strengths and weaknesses
Where Vining ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 151 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 82% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 81% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 78% of towns
Where Vining ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Cheap childcare$989 a month, better than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Vining
A household needs to earn about $82,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Vining home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $81,690; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Vining's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Vining
Vining runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Vining.
Who works in Vining, and how
Work in Vining centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Vining
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Vining.
What the weather is like in Vining, month by month
Vining sees roughly 151 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 20, with lows near 3. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20° | 11° | 3° |
| April | 51° | 39° | 30° |
| July | 79° | 68° | 58° |
| October | 55° | 44° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Vining
The nearest airport, Brainerd Lakes Regional, is about 68 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 147 miles away.
The best schools in and around Vining
Schools across Vining average a B+, better than 73% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Battle Lake ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Henning ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Battle Lake SecondaryB+ · 52% proficient
- Henning SecondaryB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Vining school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Vining 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 Vining against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Vining
Is Vining a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Vining ranks 16,977th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, the weather, and heat safety, and lowest on internet speeds and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Vining expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $317,842. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $81,690 median income, cost of living beats 54% of towns.
Is Vining safe?
Yes, Vining is safer than 70% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $298 per resident a year.
Compare Vining with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Vining. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Vining 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.
Vining detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Vining: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Vining: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Vining: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Vining: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Vining 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.