Best PlacesWhite Rock, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around White Rock, 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.
White Rock ranks 4,378th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in White Rock
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.
White Rock's strengths and weaknesses
Where White Rock ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 140 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 89% of towns
Where White Rock ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 11% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,079 a month, better than only 20% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in White Rock
A household needs to earn about $112,000 a year to comfortably buy the median White Rock home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $106,195; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 White Rock's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 White Rock
White Rock runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for White Rock.
Who works in White Rock, and how
Work in White Rock centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in White Rock
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across White Rock.
What the weather is like in White Rock, month by month
White Rock sees roughly 140 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 18° | 10° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 61° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of White Rock
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 37 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 White Rock
Schools across White Rock average a B−, better than 60% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Goodhue ElementaryA− · 61% proficient
- Cannon Falls ElementaryB+ · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Zumbrota-mazeppa Senior HighB+ · 57% proficient
- Cannon Falls SecondaryB · 48% proficient
- Kenyon-wanamingo Senior HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every White Rock school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
White Rock 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 White Rock against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in White Rock
Is White Rock a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, White Rock ranks 4,378th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, state infrastructure, and low crime, and lowest on biking and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is White Rock expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $427,854. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $106,195 median income, cost of living beats 88% of towns.
Is White Rock safe?
Yes, White Rock is safer than 92% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $199 per resident a year.
Compare White Rock with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to White Rock. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in White Rock 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.
White Rock detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for White Rock: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in White Rock: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of White Rock: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in White Rock: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
White Rock 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.