Best PlacesWalbo, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Walbo, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Walbo ranks 4,731st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Walbo
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.
Walbo's strengths and weaknesses
Where Walbo ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 84% of towns
- Household income$98,678 median, better than 84% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 84% of towns
Where Walbo ranks low
- Short commute33.3 minutes each way, better than only 19% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,041 a month, better than only 22% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 34% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Walbo
A household needs to earn about $89,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Walbo home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $98,678, 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 Walbo's effective rate of 0.88%, 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 Walbo
Walbo runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Walbo.
Who works in Walbo, and how
Work in Walbo centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Walbo
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Walbo.
What the weather is like in Walbo, month by month
Walbo sees roughly 120 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 17° | 10° |
| April | 55° | 44° | 35° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 59° | 49° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Walbo
The nearest airport, St. Cloud Regional, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 49 miles away.
The best schools in and around Walbo
Schools across Walbo average a B, better than 71% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cambridge Intermediate SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cambridge Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Cambridge-isanti High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Walbo school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Walbo 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 Walbo against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Walbo
Is Walbo a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Walbo ranks 4,731st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, state infrastructure, and few empty homes, and lowest on long commutes and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Walbo expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $338,421. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $98,678 median income, cost of living beats 84% of towns.
Is Walbo safe?
Yes, Walbo is safer than 97% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $143 per resident a year.
Compare Walbo with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Walbo. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Walbo 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.
Walbo detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Walbo: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Walbo: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Walbo: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Walbo: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Walbo 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.