Best PlacesWaltham, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Waltham, 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.
Waltham ranks 3,525th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Waltham
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.
Waltham's strengths and weaknesses
Where Waltham ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 197 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 91% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 90% of towns
Where Waltham ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 29% of towns
- Cheap childcare$948 a month, better than only 30% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 35% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Waltham
A household needs to earn about $83,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Waltham home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $104,011, 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 Waltham's effective rate of 0.86%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Waltham
Waltham 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 Waltham.
Who works in Waltham, and how
Work in Waltham centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Waltham
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Waltham.
What the weather is like in Waltham, month by month
Waltham sees roughly 197 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 18° | 12° |
| April | 57° | 45° | 37° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 60° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Waltham
The nearest airport, Rochester International, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 74 miles away.
The best schools in and around Waltham
Schools across Waltham average a C+, better than 43% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Blooming Prairie ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Hayfield ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Blooming Prairie SecondaryC+ · 35% proficient
- Hayfield SecondaryC− · 29% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Waltham school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Waltham 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 Waltham against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Waltham
Is Waltham a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Waltham ranks 3,525th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, low crime, and state infrastructure, and lowest on walkability and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Waltham expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $314,871. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $104,011 median income, cost of living beats 90% of towns.
Is Waltham safe?
Yes, Waltham is safer than 96% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $155 per resident a year.
Compare Waltham with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Waltham. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Waltham 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.
Waltham detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Waltham: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Waltham: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Waltham: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Waltham: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Waltham 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.