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Big city living isn't for everyone--but at the same time, urban areas certainly have their perks.
There's the culture, the food, the arts, the food, the energy, and you know, the food. But there are drawbacks. There's traffic, expensive parking, expensive housing--pretty much, expensive everything, depending on which big city you're looking at.
But that's where the suburbs come in--they have all of the benefits of being near big cities, without actually having to be big cities.
Of course, not all suburbs of St. Paul are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones. So without further ado...
Here are the 10 best suburbs to live around St. Paul for 2022:
What's the best suburb of St. Paul? North Oaks ranks as the best suburb of St. Paul for 2022 based on the most recent Census and FBI data. If you happen to be a resident of North Oaks, you're probably not too surprised to find it on the top our list.
We'll tell you what makes each of these 10 St. Paul 'burbs better than the rest--but first, a bit about our methodology.
Note: This result may differ from our state wide data as we did not include commute times and crime for this analysis to allow for a larger selection of suburbs.
Feel free to check out some more reading about Minnesota:
The 10 Best St. Paul Suburbs To Live For 2022
North Oaks is always mentioned as one of the best suburbs in the St. Paul area. We'll tell you the good about "Awesome North Oaks."
Everyone here is rich; families average $210,370 a year, which is the highest in the St. Paul region. And only 0.6% are out of work. Homes average more than $672,600 each.
/10
Population: 5,244
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $210,370
Unemployment Rate: 0.6%
Poverty Rate: 2.5%
More on North Oaks: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Deephaven is the second best 'burb we looked at near St. Paul for 2022.
It ranks 11th for incomes in the area and only 1.39% of residents lack insurance, good for 9th best.
/10
Population: 3,904
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $132,813
Unemployment Rate: 0.5%
Poverty Rate: 3.2%
More on Deephaven: Real Estate | Data
Here in North Hudson, it's really safe, and residents are just about as rich as you'll see in the St. Paul metro area.
The bad side? Schools are more crowded, and the cost of living puts a large part of the city out of reach for most families.
But price is based on demand and a lot of people want to live in North Hudson.
/10
Population: 3,819
Rank Last Year: 16 (Up 13)
Median Income: $108,500
Unemployment Rate: 0.2%
Poverty Rate: 2.8%
More on North Hudson: Real Estate | Data
Rogers ranks as the 4th best suburb of St. Paul for 2022.
You won't find many better places to raise your kids in the region than in Rogers and the schools are some of the best around.
/10
Population: 13,183
Rank Last Year: 11 (Up 7)
Median Income: $133,988
Unemployment Rate: 1.2%
Poverty Rate: 2.0%
More on Rogers: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Coming in as the fifth best is Medina.
Medina gets kudos for having the 7th most expensive homes in the St. Paul area, where houses sell for an average of $547,900. However, the cost of living here is among the highest in the area.
/10
Population: 6,549
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 1)
Median Income: $156,563
Unemployment Rate: 1.5%
Poverty Rate: 3.3%
More on Medina: Real Estate | Data
Chanhassen is proud of its 6th place finish on this list. And here's why.
Most residents have great jobs and the unemployment rate sits at 2.43% which is 34th best in the area.
According to online reports, Chanhassen is quickly becoming one of the more affluent suburbs in the St. Paul area, meaning you need to get in soon.
/10
Population: 25,965
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 3)
Median Income: $124,184
Unemployment Rate: 2.4%
Poverty Rate: 2.9%
More on Chanhassen: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The 7th best suburb on our list goes to Mendota Heights.
Mendota Heights schools are some of the best in the region, and crime is really low. The cost of living makes it a lot more desirable for many families, especially first-time home buyers.
And, it's only 5.0 miles to downtown, which is a good thing.
/10
Population: 11,339
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 3)
Median Income: $119,347
Unemployment Rate: 2.0%
Poverty Rate: 4.2%
More on Mendota Heights: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Elko New Market is growing quickly, and for a good reason. Crime is far below average, and most residents are gainfully employed. Even the cost of living is reasonable.
A solid 4.26% of people lack insurance, good for 64th in the area.
/10
Population: 4,715
Rank Last Year: 19 (Up 11)
Median Income: $133,333
Unemployment Rate: 0.8%
Poverty Rate: 0.4%
More on Elko New Market: Real Estate | Data
Is 'Everything Better In Orono?'
Almost.
It placed 9th on our list thanks to the fact that it's really expensive to live here, but the schools are great, so you get what you pay for in that regard.
/10
Population: 8,217
Rank Last Year: 15 (Up 6)
Median Income: $169,557
Unemployment Rate: 1.9%
Poverty Rate: 4.8%
More on Orono: Real Estate | Data | Photos
And rounding out the top ten for 2022 is Edina.
This city is far above average in every category, and the best part? It's far more affordable than the other cities listed above. So, you get a big bang for your buck here.
/10
Population: 52,215
Rank Last Year: 8 (Down 2)
Median Income: $108,576
Unemployment Rate: 3.3%
Poverty Rate: 4.7%
More on Edina: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Methodology: How We Determined The Best Suburbs Around St. Paul for 2022
Figuring out the best suburbs around St. Paul was pretty simple; we just needed to list several things that people like, and then find out which cities have the most of those things.
We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible:
- Low unemployment rate
- High Median household incomes
- Population density (lots of things to do)
- High home values
- A lot of college educated people
- Low poverty
- High rate of insured families
Then we used the newest American Community Survey data for 2016-2020 to research each suburb.
FYI: We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of St. Paul.
Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 100 suburbs to evaluate around St. Paul.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 100 in each category, where 1 was the "best.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality of life index.
And finally, we crowned the city with the best quality of life index the "Best Suburb near St. Paul." We're lookin' at you, North Oaks. You can download the data here.
Read on below to learn more about what it's like to live in the best of the best. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from best to worst.
Summary: Welcome to the Best St. Paul 'Burbs of 2022
We said it once and we'll say it again--life in the big city isn't for everyone. At least not all the time.
So if you're hankering for some of the amenities of a larger city like St. Paul, but don't want to deal with the drawbacks, one of these suburbs might just be for you.
For more Minnesota reading, check out: