Best PlacesWright County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Wright County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Wright County ranks 99th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $108,968, everyday costs sit below the national average, and good schools ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, taxes, and noise.
The best neighborhoods in Wright 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.
The best areas in Wright County
The parts of Wright County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
St. Michael & Albertville
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and prices have run up less.
Otsego
Fewer homes sit empty and biking is better.
Rockford & Delano
Tree cover is thicker.
Montrose & Waverly
Crime runs lower and more households have young kids.
Monticello
Fewer adults hold degrees and health outcomes score lower.
Maple Lake
It is quieter, though commutes are longer.
Cokato & Howard Lake
Homes cost less, though advertised internet is slower.
Buffalo
Annandale & Clearwater
Schools score lower.
Scores across Wright County run from about the 33rd to the 99th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Wright County's strengths and weaknesses
Wright County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Civic engagement is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. What local pay buys and heat safety follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Childcare costs, taxes, and noise hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Wright County ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Household income$108,968 median, better than 95% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of counties
Where Wright County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,079 a month, better than only 13% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 16% of counties
- Short commute29.4 minutes each way, better than only 18% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 34% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Wright County
A household needs to earn about $98,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wright County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $108,968, 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 Wright County's effective rate of 0.95%, 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 Wright County
Wright County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Wright County.
Who works in Wright County, and how
Work in Wright County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Wright County
Wright County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Wright County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Wright County growing, and who is moving in?
Wright County has grown about 19% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Minneapolis, MN metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Wright County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Wright County, month by month
Wright County sees roughly 125 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 24, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24° | 16° | 9° |
| April | 54° | 43° | 35° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 58° | 48° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Wright County
The nearest airport, St. Cloud Regional, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 36 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wright County
Schools across Wright County average an A−, better than 89% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Monticello Nature Based EducationA+ · 83% proficient
- St. Michael ElementaryA+ · 78% proficient
- Pinewood Elementary - SnwA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Delano Intermediate SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
- Dassel-cokato MiddleA · 67% proficient
- St. Michael-albertville Middle EastA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- St. Michael-albertville Senior HighA · 68% proficient
- Watertown Mayer HighA− · 67% proficient
- Delano High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wright County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wright 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 Wright County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Wright County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of counties and 15% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 78% of counties and health care access beats 87%.
Common questions about living in Wright County
Is Wright County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wright County ranks 99th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on civic engagement, what local pay buys, and heat safety, and lowest on childcare costs and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wright County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $366,196. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $108,968 median income, cost of living beats 97% of counties.
Is Wright County safe?
Yes, Wright County is safer than 94% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $250 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Wright County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 24 with lows near 9. That works out to about 125 pleasant days a year, more than 78% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Wright County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are St. Michael & Albertville, Otsego, and Rockford & Delano. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Wright County good for families?
Schools beat 89% of counties, crime safety beats 94%, and childcare runs $1,079 a month.
Is Wright County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 46% of counties. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Wright County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wright County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wright 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.
Wright County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wright County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wright County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wright County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wright County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wright 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.