Best PlacesYoung America, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Young America, 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.
Young America ranks 2,639th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Young America
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.
Young America's strengths and weaknesses
Where Young America ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 93% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of towns
Where Young America ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,668 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 33% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 33% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Young America
A household needs to earn about $116,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Young America home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $105,952; 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 Young America's effective rate of 0.97%, 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 Young America
Young America's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Young America.
Who works in Young America, and how
Work in Young America centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Young America
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Young America.
What the weather is like in Young America, month by month
Young America sees roughly 90 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 17° | 10° |
| April | 55° | 44° | 35° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 63° |
| October | 59° | 49° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Young America
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 35 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 Young America
Schools across Young America average a B−, better than 61% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bayview ElementaryA · 71% proficient
- Southview ElementaryA− · 59% proficient
- Central ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Waconia Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Central MiddleC · 33% proficient
- Gsl Junior High SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Waconia High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Glencoe-silver Lake Senior HighB · 47% proficient
- Central Senior HighB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Young America school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Young America 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 Young America against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Young America
Is Young America a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Young America ranks 2,639th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, state infrastructure, and population health, and lowest on childcare costs and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Young America expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $432,706. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $105,952 median income, cost of living beats 90% of towns.
Is Young America safe?
Yes, Young America is safer than 98% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $141 per resident a year.
Compare Young America with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Young America. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Young America 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.
Young America detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Young America: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Young America: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Young America: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Young America: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Young America 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.