Best PlacesWilkin County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Wilkin County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Wilkin County ranks 1,234th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Wilkin County
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.
Wilkin County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wilkin County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 138 pleasant days a year, better than 87% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 82% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 78% of counties
Where Wilkin County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 10% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 21% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 23% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 29% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Wilkin County
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wilkin County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,266, 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 Wilkin County's effective rate of 0.93%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wilkin County
Wilkin County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Wilkin County.
Who works in Wilkin County, and how
Work in Wilkin County centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Wilkin County
Wilkin County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 89% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Wilkin County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Wilkin County growing, and who is moving in?
Wilkin County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Richland County, ND.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Wilkin County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Wilkin County, month by month
Wilkin County sees roughly 138 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 20, with lows near 4. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20° | 12° | 4° |
| April | 51° | 41° | 32° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 58° | 47° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Wilkin County
The nearest airport, Hector International, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 188 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wilkin County
Schools across Wilkin County average a C+, better than 56% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Barnesville ElementaryA− · 61% proficient
- Rothsay ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- Breckenridge ElementaryB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kennedy Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
- Breckenridge MiddleD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Kennedy High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Breckenridge Senior HighB− · 43% proficient
- Rothsay SecondaryB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wilkin County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wilkin County 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 Wilkin County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Wilkin County
Is Wilkin County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wilkin County ranks 1,234th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, heat safety, and the weather, and lowest on tree cover and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wilkin County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $180,308. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $75,266 median income, cost of living beats 64% of counties.
Is Wilkin County safe?
Yes, Wilkin County is safer than 64% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $312 per resident a year.
Compare Wilkin County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wilkin County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wilkin County 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.
Wilkin County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wilkin County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wilkin County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wilkin County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wilkin County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wilkin County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.