Best PlacesWannaska, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wannaska, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Wannaska ranks 18,537th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Wannaska
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.
Wannaska's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wannaska ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 141 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of towns
- QuietBetter than 81% of towns
Where Wannaska ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Wannaska
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wannaska home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $85,857, 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 Wannaska's effective rate of 0.85%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wannaska
Wannaska runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Wannaska.
Who works in Wannaska, and how
Work in Wannaska centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Wannaska
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Wannaska.
What the weather is like in Wannaska, month by month
Wannaska sees roughly 141 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 17, with lows near 1. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 17° | 9° | 1° |
| April | 49° | 39° | 30° |
| July | 80° | 69° | 58° |
| October | 54° | 45° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Wannaska
The nearest airport, Thief River Falls Regional, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 283 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wannaska
Schools across Wannaska average a B, better than 66% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Roseau ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Badger ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Greenbush ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Badger SecondaryB · 47% proficient
- Greenbush-middle River SecondaryB− · 43% proficient
- Roseau SecondaryB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wannaska school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wannaska 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 Wannaska against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Wannaska
Is Wannaska a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wannaska ranks 18,537th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, state infrastructure, and a stable housing market, and lowest on distance from a big city and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wannaska expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $187,608. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $85,857 median income, cost of living beats 79% of towns.
Is Wannaska safe?
Yes, Wannaska is safer than 74% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $235 per resident a year.
Compare Wannaska with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wannaska. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wannaska 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.
Wannaska detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wannaska: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wannaska: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wannaska: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wannaska: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wannaska 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.