Best PlacesWheaton, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wheaton, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Wheaton ranks 31,060th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Wheaton
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.
Wheaton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wheaton ranks high
- Short commute16.1 minutes each way, better than 96% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- BikingBetter than 87% of towns
Where Wheaton ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 12% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 13% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 17% of towns
- Household income$54,193 median, better than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Wheaton
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wheaton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $54,193, 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 Wheaton's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wheaton
Wheaton 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 Wheaton.
Who works in Wheaton, and how
Work in Wheaton centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Wheaton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Wheaton.
What the weather is like in Wheaton, month by month
Wheaton sees roughly 135 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 23, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23° | 14° | 7° |
| April | 53° | 42° | 33° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 59° | 48° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Wheaton
The nearest airport, Watertown Regional, is about 70 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 172 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wheaton
Schools across Wheaton average a B−, better than 62% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pearson ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Pre-k - 5th Grade BuildingB · 47% proficient
- Campbell-tintah ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Browns Valley MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Herman SecondaryB− · 42% proficient
- Wheaton SecondaryC+ · 38% proficient
- 6-12th Grade BuildingC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wheaton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wheaton 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 Wheaton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Wheaton
Is Wheaton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wheaton ranks 31,060th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, walkability, and civic engagement, and lowest on air quality and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wheaton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $113,648. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $54,193 median income, cost of living beats 25% of towns.
Is Wheaton safe?
Wheaton is safer than 19% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $459 per resident a year.
Compare Wheaton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wheaton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wheaton 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.
Wheaton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wheaton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wheaton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wheaton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wheaton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wheaton 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.