Best Elementary Schools in Minnesota

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Find the best Minnesota elementary schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish Minnesota test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the MCA-III test scores by the Minnesota Department of Education. The most recent update was on Friday, August 29, 2025.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 872)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Rank (2024)	Rank Change from 2024	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	ID
521	Sand Creek Elementary	Public	K-5	12156 Olive St NW	Coon Rapids	55448	Anoka County	Anoka-Hennepin School District	No	No	No	No	(763) 506-4300	557	43	12.9	44.7%	277 (49.7%)	100 (18.0%)	46 (8.3%)	61 (11.0%)	6 (1.1%)	1 (0.2%)	66 (11.8%)	$12,284							45	52.9	456	65		270318000123
522	Milaca Elementary	Public	PK, KG-6	500 Highway 23 W	Milaca	56353	Mille Lacs County	Milaca Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(320) 982-7301	865	57	15.1	49.9%	774 (89.5%)	4 (0.5%)	32 (3.7%)	3 (0.3%)	5 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	47 (5.4%)	$11,978							44.7	50.7	485	37		272067000923
523	Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton Elementary	Public	PK, KG-4	108 N Main	Dilworth	56529	Clay County	Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton	No	No	No	Yes	(218) 477-6844	555	40	13.8	35.7%	460 (82.9%)	13 (2.3%)	56 (10.1%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	20 (3.6%)	$10,431							44.7	59.5	377	146		271026000447
524	Pinewood Elementary	Public	1-5	5500 Quincy St	Mounds View	55112	Ramsey County	Mounds View Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(651) 621-7500	523	44	11.7	52.2%	245 (46.8%)	72 (13.8%)	68 (13.0%)	82 (15.7%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	54 (10.3%)	$13,820							44.6	36.1	605	81		272295001124
525	Riverside Elementary	Public	PK, KG-4	220 3rd St NW	Brainerd	56401	Crow Wing County	Brainerd Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(218) 454-6800	407	40	10.2	57.5%	344 (84.5%)	4 (1.0%)	15 (3.7%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (2.5%)	1 (0.2%)	33 (8.1%)	$15,397							44.4	41.2	573	48		270609000259
526	St. Paul School of Northern Lights	Public, Charter	K-6	768 Hamline Ave S	Saint Paul	55116	Ramsey County	St. Paul School of Northern Lights	Yes	No	No	Yes	(651) 285-4672	212	16	13.3	28.3%	142 (67.0%)	13 (6.1%)	23 (10.8%)	4 (1.9%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (13.2%)								44.4	30.5	648	122		270045805256
527	Parkside Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	207 3rd St NE	Buffalo	55313	Wright County	Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(763) 682-8500	348	27	12.8	42.8%	286 (82.2%)	7 (2.0%)	26 (7.5%)	6 (1.7%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (6.0%)	$13,171							44.3	58.6	392	135		270720000283
528	North Trail Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	5580 170th St W	Farmington	55024	Dakota County	Farmington Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(651) 460-1800	612	40	15.2	31.5%	329 (53.8%)	128 (20.9%)	89 (14.5%)	34 (5.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (5.1%)	$11,358							44.1	42.3	565	37		271182002642
529	Global Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	3000 5th Street NW	New Brighton	55112	Ramsey County	Global Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(763) 404-8200	447	34	12.9	89.0%	63 (14.1%)	369 (82.6%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$15,261							44.1	43.8	554	25		270031304294
530	MACCRAY Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	711 Wolverine Dr	Clara City	56222	Chippewa County	MACCRAY School District	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(320) 847-2154	320	32	10	45.9%	256 (80.0%)	2 (0.6%)	51 (15.9%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.6%)	5 (1.6%)								43.9	46.1	538	8		270009105565

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Minnesota

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for MN student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Native American Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on MCA-III Math, MCA-III Reading test scores released by the Minnesota Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on August 29, 2025, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Minnesota Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the Minnesota Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Minnesota Department of Education.