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Best Public Schools in Zip Code 55313

New rankings! Minnesota test scores for the 2025-26 school year were just released — SchoolDigger posted updated rankings this week.

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At a glance

Schools

4,493

Students

Districts

Top rankedBuffalo Senior High90^th of 473 Minnesota high schools

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Biggest riser

Northwinds Elementary up 88 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Parkside Elementary 12.8 students per teacher

SchoolDigger ratings

4★

2★

9 schools without a SchoolDigger rating (too few tested students)

See the top-ranked Minnesota schools →

Summary:

ZIP code 55313 covers 11 schools serving roughly 4,490 students from preschool through 12th grade, and it is essentially a single district: Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose Schools runs 7 of the 11 schools and enrolls about 95.6% of local students. The district ranks 133 of 458 in Minnesota (71st percentile, 4 stars). Two schools dominate enrollment: Buffalo Senior High (1,681 students) and Buffalo Community Middle (1,160), together about 63% of the ZIP. The four Buffalo elementaries add 1,417 students, while the small alternative and specialized programs range from just 8 to 84 students.

Northwinds Elementary is the strongest elementary, beating both district and state in math (63.4%), reading (57.6%) and science (35.5%), with 3rd-grade math at 77.3%. Buffalo Senior High posts a 96.7% graduation rate and 1.5% dropout rate, well ahead of state figures, and ranks in the 81st percentile. Buffalo Community Middle is steady and well-ranked (80th percentile, 4 stars), with 8th-grade math at 61.2%. All three are 4-star schools.

Tatanka Elementary STEM School is the weakest elementary, with math 39.8%, reading 42.5% and science 14.8%, below district and state. Science is a soft spot broadly — Buffalo Community Middle (21.5%), Discovery Elementary (17.1%) and Tatanka all trail state science, and science scores fell at several schools versus the prior year. Outcome gaps among alternative programs are stark: Phoenix Learning Center 80.0% graduation, Terra Nova School 57.1%, and Wright Technical Center Alternative Learning Center 17.3% graduation with 17.3% dropout. Many test values for the smallest programs are suppressed by the state, so they cannot be fully judged from test data.

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				MCA-IV Reading (2026)								MCA-IV Science (2026)				MCA-III Math (2026)								Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients (2025)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	MCA-IV Reading 3rd Grade	MCA-IV Reading 4th Grade	MCA-IV Reading 5th Grade	MCA-IV Reading 6th Grade	MCA-IV Reading 7th Grade	MCA-IV Reading 8th Grade	MCA-IV Reading 10th Grade	MCA-IV Reading All Grades	MCA-IV Science 5th Grade	MCA-IV Science 8th Grade	MCA-IV Science End of Course	MCA-IV Science All Grades	MCA-III Math 3rd Grade	MCA-III Math 4th Grade	MCA-III Math 5th Grade	MCA-III Math 6th Grade	MCA-III Math 7th Grade	MCA-III Math 8th Grade	MCA-III Math 11th Grade	MCA-III Math All Grades	Total
Wright Technical Center	Public	11-12	1405 3rd Ave NE	Buffalo	55313	Wright County	Wright Technical Center	No	No	No	No	(763) 684-2200	0	13	.0		0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)
Wright Technical Center Alternative Learning Center	Public	9-12	1405 3rd Ave NE	Buffalo	55313	Wright County	Wright Technical Center	No	No	No	No	(763) 684-2200	81	5	15.6	55.6%	60 (74.1%)	4 (4.9%)	12 (14.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (4.9%)								(n/a)											6.3	6.3
Wright Technical Center Alternative Learning Center Middle	Public	6-8	1405 3rd Ave NE	Buffalo	55313	Wright County	Wright Technical Center	No	No	No	No	(763) 682-4112	3	1	3.0		3 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)
Eastern Wright Program	Public	5-8	1405 3rd Ave. NE	Buffalo	55313	Wright County	Meeker And Wright Special Education	No	No	No	No	(320) 543-1122	8	2	3.9		6 (75.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (12.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (12.5%)								(n/a)
Cornerstones Program	Public	6-12	1405 3rd Ave. NE	Buffalo	55313	Wright County	Meeker And Wright Special Education	No	No	No	No	(763) 682-6440	23	4	5.6	43.5%	18 (78.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (8.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (13.0%)								(n/a)
Terra Nova School	Public, Charter	6-12	1705 Highway 25 N	Buffalo	55313	Wright County	Terra Nova School	Yes	No	No	No	(952) 852-0129	84	8	10.4	28.6%	75 (89.3%)	2 (2.4%)	5 (6.0%)	1 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.2%)								(n/a)								45.0												33.3	$16,173
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%)	42.7	541^st of 869 public elementary schools	37.7%		44.3	527^th of 872 public elementary schools	39.6%	14	40.0	42.7	49.1					43.9	25.0			25.0	47.3	45.3	33.3					42.2	$13,171
Buffalo Community Middle	Public	6-8	1300 Highway 25 N	Buffalo	55313	Wright County	Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose Schools	No	No	No	No	(763) 682-8200	1,160	54	21.3	27.5%	990 (85.3%)	39 (3.4%)	57 (4.9%)	17 (1.5%)	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	53 (4.6%)	72.2	109^th of 546 public middle schools	80.0%		69.4	140^th of 519 public middle schools	73.0%	31				59.6	40.5	51.5		50.8		21.5		21.5				41.8	43.8	61.2		49.3	$10,634
Buffalo Senior High	Public	9-12	877 Bison Blvd	Buffalo	55313	Wright County	Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose Schools	No	No	No	No	(763) 682-8100	1,681	71	23.7	22.0%	1,439 (85.6%)	48 (2.9%)	94 (5.6%)	23 (1.4%)	5 (0.3%)	2 (0.1%)	70 (4.2%)	77.3	90^th of 473 public high schools	81.0%		84.7	58^th of 450 public high schools	87.1%	32							47.9	47.9			37.6	37.6							51.6	51.6	$11,843
Tatanka Elementary STEM School	Public	K-5	703 8th St NE	Buffalo	55313	Wright County	Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(763) 682-8600	393	26	14.8	35.1%	301 (76.6%)	32 (8.1%)	24 (6.1%)	7 (1.8%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (6.9%)	36.5	590^th of 869 public elementary schools	32.1%		42.5	544^th of 872 public elementary schools	37.6%	46	44.4	30.9	51.9					42.5	14.8			14.8	51.4	41.8	22.2					39.8	$10,828
Discovery Elementary	Public	K-5	301 2nd Ave NE	Buffalo	55313	Wright County	Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose Schools	No	No	No	No	(763) 682-8400	257	15	16.6	16.0%	252 (98.1%)	2 (0.8%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.8%)	48.6	480^th of 869 public elementary schools	44.8%		51.4	464^th of 872 public elementary schools	46.8%	16	43.9	50.0	50.0					47.9	17.1			17.1	43.9	69.0	30.6					48.7	$12,939
Phoenix Learning Center	Public	9-12	877 Bison Blvd	Buffalo	55313	Wright County	Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose Schools	No	No	No	No	(763) 682-8102	36	2	15.0	41.7%	31 (86.1%)	2 (5.6%)	3 (8.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)																					$17,014
Northwinds Elementary	Public	K-5	1111 7th Ave NW	Buffalo	55313	Wright County	Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose Schools	No	No	No	No	(763) 682-8800	419	28	14.8	25.8%	394 (94.0%)	7 (1.7%)	10 (2.4%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.4%)	74.9	208^th of 869 public elementary schools	76.1%		67.3	296^th of 872 public elementary schools	66.1%	88	58.7	54.9	59.0					57.6	35.5			35.5	77.3	70.0	44.3					63.4	$11,493
Pride Transitions	Public	12	800 8th St NE	Buffalo	55313	Wright County	Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose Schools	No	No	No	No	(763) 682-8721	0	2	.0		0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)																					$33,874
Bison Online	Public	9-12	877 Bison Blvd	Buffalo	55313	Wright County	Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose Schools	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(763) 682-8100	0																		(n/a)

Cities Near Zip Code 55313

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Buffalo	0.03 mi	18	197^th
Maple Lake	7.28 mi	2	90^th
Montrose	7.62 mi	1	214^th
Monticello	8.32 mi	18	130^th
Rockford	8.86 mi	3	177^th

See the top MN Minnesota cities

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

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.