Best PlacesWaite Park, Minneapolis, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Waite Park, Minneapolis, 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.
Waite Park, Minneapolis ranks 939th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Waite Park, Minneapolis
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.
Waite Park, Minneapolis' strengths and weaknesses
Where Waite Park, Minneapolis ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than 91% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than 89% of neighborhoods
Where Waite Park, Minneapolis ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,682 a month, better than only 14% of neighborhoods
- School gradeD+, better than only 20% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 23% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than only 28% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 33% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Waite Park, Minneapolis
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Waite Park, Minneapolis home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $124,462, 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 Waite Park, Minneapolis' effective rate of 1.21%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Waite Park, Minneapolis
Waite Park, Minneapolis runs younger 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 Waite Park, Minneapolis.
Who works in Waite Park, Minneapolis, and how
Work in Waite Park, Minneapolis centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 60%
- Work from home 33%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Waite Park, Minneapolis
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Waite Park, Minneapolis.
What the weather is like in Waite Park, Minneapolis, month by month
Waite Park, Minneapolis sees roughly 124 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 18° | 11° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 60° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Waite Park, Minneapolis
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 10 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 17.5 million passengers in 2025, with 195 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Waite Park, Minneapolis
Schools across Waite Park, Minneapolis average a D+, better than 20% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Waite Park ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Cityview ElementaryF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northeast MiddleD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Fair HighB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Waite Park, Minneapolis school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Waite Park, Minneapolis 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 Waite Park, Minneapolis against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Waite Park, Minneapolis
Is Waite Park, Minneapolis a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Waite Park, Minneapolis ranks 939th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on fast internet, a stable housing market, and what local pay buys, and lowest on childcare costs and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Waite Park, Minneapolis expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $326,817. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $124,462 median income, cost of living beats 94% of neighborhoods.
Is Waite Park, Minneapolis safe?
Waite Park, Minneapolis is safer than 52% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $453 per resident a year.
Compare Waite Park, Minneapolis with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Waite Park, Minneapolis. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Waite Park, Minneapolis 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.
Waite Park, Minneapolis detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Waite Park, Minneapolis: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Waite Park, Minneapolis: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Waite Park, Minneapolis: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Waite Park, Minneapolis: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Waite Park, Minneapolis 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.