Best PlacesZumbrota, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Zumbrota, 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.
Zumbrota ranks 3,740th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Zumbrota
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.
Zumbrota's strengths and weaknesses
Where Zumbrota ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 172 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of towns
- BikingBetter than 96% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- TransitBetter than 93% of towns
Where Zumbrota ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,079 a month, better than only 20% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 23% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 25% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 34% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Zumbrota
A household needs to earn about $79,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Zumbrota home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $90,275, 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 Zumbrota's effective rate of 1.14%, 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 Zumbrota
Zumbrota 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 Zumbrota.
Who works in Zumbrota, and how
Work in Zumbrota centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Zumbrota
Zumbrota has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of towns and more parkland per resident than 97% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Zumbrota and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Zumbrota, month by month
Zumbrota sees roughly 172 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 24, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24° | 16° | 10° |
| April | 55° | 44° | 35° |
| July | 81° | 71° | 62° |
| October | 59° | 48° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Zumbrota
The nearest airport, Rochester International, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 49 miles away.
The best schools in and around Zumbrota
Schools across Zumbrota average a B+, better than 76% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pine Island ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Kenyon-wanamingo ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pine Island MiddleA− · 58% proficient
- Zumbrota-mazeppa Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Kenyon-wanamingo MiddleC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Pine Island SecondaryA− · 62% proficient
- Zumbrota-mazeppa Senior HighB+ · 57% proficient
- Kenyon-wanamingo Senior HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Zumbrota school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Zumbrota 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 Zumbrota against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Zumbrota
Is Zumbrota a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Zumbrota ranks 3,740th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, biking, and walkability, and lowest on taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Zumbrota expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $289,590. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $90,275 median income, cost of living beats 75% of towns.
Is Zumbrota safe?
Yes, Zumbrota is safer than 87% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $197 per resident a year.
Compare Zumbrota with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Zumbrota. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Zumbrota 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.
Zumbrota detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Zumbrota: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Zumbrota: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Zumbrota: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Zumbrota: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Zumbrota 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.