Durham, NC vs Forest Lake, MN

Side-by-side comparison of housing, income, commute, safety, and quality of life.

Score Snapshot

No universal winner

Scores summarize the published model. Use the objective metric differences below and your own priorities to choose.

Durham

69.4

#1213 nationally

Forest Lake

71.7

#964 nationally

Durham leads in walk score (33 vs 18). Forest Lake leads in median household income ($91,157 vs $67,432). Durham leads in average commute (22.8 min vs 26.9 min).

Metric-by-Metric Breakdown

Metric	Durham, NC	Forest Lake, MN
WhereAtHome Score	69.4 (#1213)	71.7 (#964)
Population	283,506	20,685
Typical Home Value (ZHVI)	$395,976	$432,441
Median Household Income	$67,432	$91,157
Average Commute	22.8 min	26.9 min
Walk Score	33	18
Crime Level	Moderate	3.3
School Rating	6.4	N/A
Cost of Living Index	102	114
Political lean County 2024 presidential margin — context only, not scored	D+61.9	D+8.9