Are you sick of being a city slicker?
Do you long for life in suburban Minnesota? Where you can drive an overly-large vehicle to the store for groceries and schlep the kids around to practices and appointments without worrying about a parking space.
We do, too.
If you wanted to move out to the suburbs in Minnesota, where would you go? And how would you decide on the ranking factors to help you pick which Minnesota suburb was best?
No worries. We got it all figured out here using Saturday Night Science.
$136,534 median income · $508,713 median home price
Located in
Hennepin County, Minnesota
Plymouth is the seventh largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Located 15 miles west of downtown Minneapolis in Hennepin County, the city is the third largest suburb of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, which is the sixteenth largest metropolitan area in the United States, with about 3.52 million residents. The population was 70,576 at the 2010 Census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$132,768 median income · $562,137 median home price
Located in
Dakota County, Minnesota
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$128,767 median income · $615,641 median home price
Located in
Hennepin County, Minnesota
Edina ee-DY-n), officially known as the City of Edina, is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and a suburb situated immediately southwest of Minneapolis. Edina began as a small farming and milling community in the 1860s. The population was 47,941, as of 2010.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$152,150 median income · $472,662 median home price
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$139,041 median income · $487,882 median home price
Located in
Dakota County, Minnesota
Lakeville is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. It is a suburb of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, approximately 20 miles south of both downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul. On the Twin Cities metropolitan area’s southern fringe, Lakeville is one of the fastest-growing cities in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. The U.S. Census Bureau recorded its population at 55,954 in 2010.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$133,423 median income · $601,129 median home price
Located in
Hennepin County, Minnesota
Corcoran is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 5,379 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$119,517 median income · $483,591 median home price
Located in
Hennepin County, Minnesota
Minnetonka is a suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, eight miles west of Minneapolis. The population was 49,734 at the 2010 census. The name comes from the Dakota Indian mni tanka, meaning “great water”. The city is the home of Cargill, the country’s largest privately owned company, and United Healthcare, the state’s largest publicly owned company.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$163,051 median income · $684,705 median home price
Located in
Hennepin County, Minnesota
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$173,527 median income · $1,113,974 median home price
Located in
Hennepin County, Minnesota
Orono is a city on the northern shores of Lake Minnetonka in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 7,437 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$158,750 median income · $458,983 median home price
Located in
Hennepin County, Minnesota
Rogers is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 8,597 at the 2010 census. However, the population increased to over 11,000 upon the annexing of surrounding Hassan Township in 2012. The population of Hassan Township was 2,600 in 2010, giving the current city a population base of 11,197 as of the census. The center of population of Minnesota is located in Rogers. The city is a northwest suburb of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Minnesota’s statewide median.
Minnesota statewide median: $89,062
Minnesota statewide median: $346,668
On the map
Where Minnesota’s best suburbs are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we crunched the suburb numbers for the North Star State
We have to use Saturday Night Science and look at several metrics to give you the best suburbs in Minnesota. We want to measure the type of place around major cities that people arguing at a bar would say makes it the “best suburb.”
First, we had to define a suburb. Using U.S. Census data produced for the state of Minnesota, we looked at every town with at least 5,000 residents, and within 30 miles of a city that’s over 200,000 people.
In other words, suburbs.
We paid particular attention to the following criteria:
- Median Home Values
- Median Income
- Population Density (Higher is Better)
- Unemployment Rates
- Commute Time
- Education Levels
- Health Insurance Coverage
- Poverty Rates
We ranked each suburb in Minnesota across these criteria from one to 86, with one being the best.
We then took the average rank across all criteria, with the town posting the lowest overall score being crowned the winner of the title “Best Suburb To Live In Minnesota.”
The result is some of the safest, quietest, and ideal places to live in Minnesota.
Read on to see why Plymouth is the ‘burb with the most, while Brooklyn Center is probably not the best place to live in Minnesota.
The full plate
The Best Suburbs In Minnesota
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Median Income | Median Home Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plymouth | 79,220 | $136,534 | $508,713 |
| 2 | Mendota Heights | 11,612 | $132,768 | $562,137 |
| 3 | Edina | 53,262 | $128,767 | $615,641 |
| 4 | Elko New Market | 5,002 | $152,150 | $472,662 |
| 5 | Lakeville | 74,354 | $139,041 | $487,882 |
| 6 | Corcoran | 7,302 | $133,423 | $601,129 |
| 7 | Minnetonka | 53,064 | $119,517 | $483,591 |
| 8 | Minnetrista | 8,708 | $163,051 | $684,705 |
| 9 | Orono | 8,195 | $173,527 | $1,113,974 |
| 10 | Rogers | 13,685 | $158,750 | $458,983 |
| 11 | Prior Lake | 28,016 | $134,255 | $525,577 |
| 12 | Eden Prairie | 63,051 | $130,489 | $501,363 |
| 13 | Medina | 6,968 | $230,859 | $832,022 |
| 14 | Lino Lakes | 22,113 | $127,181 | $447,709 |
| 15 | Stillwater | 19,355 | $105,853 | $445,501 |
| 15 | Rosemount | 27,562 | $129,625 | $432,777 |
| 17 | Victoria | 11,295 | $195,639 | $608,561 |
| 18 | Lake Elmo | 13,140 | $153,669 | $618,480 |
| 19 | Chanhassen | 26,006 | $143,651 | $548,742 |
| 20 | Mahtomedi | 8,133 | $123,319 | $478,624 |
| 21 | Maple Grove | 71,173 | $132,731 | $424,803 |
| 22 | Dayton | 9,095 | $148,947 | $509,219 |
| 23 | Cottage Grove | 40,992 | $120,791 | $396,381 |
| 24 | Albertville | 8,207 | $132,734 | $375,310 |
| 24 | Chaska | 28,706 | $110,956 | $479,348 |
| 26 | Golden Valley | 21,725 | $108,772 | $437,256 |
| 27 | Woodbury | 78,305 | $125,310 | $457,355 |
| 28 | Ramsey | 28,421 | $116,415 | $381,243 |
| 29 | Savage | 32,889 | $125,513 | $427,463 |
| 30 | St. Anthony | 9,671 | $97,363 | $396,789 |
| 31 | Shorewood | 7,647 | $171,063 | $804,465 |
| 32 | Elk River | 26,793 | $108,741 | $391,288 |
| 33 | Champlin | 23,294 | $116,102 | $370,691 |
| 34 | Carver | 6,239 | $147,697 | $493,733 |
| 35 | Farmington | 23,902 | $123,673 | $400,171 |
| 36 | Eagan | 68,000 | $108,690 | $401,217 |
| 37 | North Oaks | 5,179 | $231,742 | $936,794 |
| 38 | Wyoming | 8,087 | $107,565 | $387,741 |
| 39 | St. Michael | 20,010 | $131,274 | $426,652 |
| 40 | Hugo | 16,340 | $116,228 | $432,376 |
| 41 | Waconia | 13,434 | $111,031 | $458,548 |
| 42 | St. Louis Park | 49,594 | $101,648 | $379,371 |
| 43 | New Brighton | 22,710 | $88,521 | $380,080 |
| 44 | Arden Hills | 9,658 | $134,118 | $477,166 |
| 45 | White Bear Lake | 23,908 | $83,554 | $355,724 |
| 46 | Andover | 33,035 | $137,593 | $435,598 |
| 47 | Inver Grove Heights | 35,906 | $101,316 | $374,324 |
| 48 | Oak Grove | 9,130 | $117,696 | $462,896 |
| 49 | Jordan | 6,771 | $110,057 | $437,126 |
| 50 | Shoreview | 26,714 | $108,370 | $410,993 |
| 51 | Falcon Heights | 5,085 | $96,528 | $412,532 |
| 52 | Delano | 6,942 | $109,946 | $435,729 |
| 53 | Hastings | 22,117 | $93,998 | $378,760 |
| 54 | St. Paul Park | 5,457 | $100,642 | $314,770 |
| 55 | Apple Valley | 55,679 | $97,673 | $376,121 |
| 56 | Shakopee | 46,012 | $107,223 | $403,598 |
| 57 | Otsego | 22,245 | $119,927 | $418,193 |
| 57 | Oakdale | 28,585 | $93,772 | $353,330 |
| 59 | Blaine | 72,488 | $106,801 | $378,017 |
| 60 | Ham Lake | 16,702 | $120,135 | $492,264 |
| 61 | North St. Paul | 12,570 | $84,797 | $325,856 |
| 62 | Mounds View | 12,926 | $90,009 | $341,297 |
| 63 | St. Francis | 8,372 | $111,198 | $346,284 |
| 64 | Forest Lake | 20,729 | $92,944 | $421,551 |
| 65 | New Hope | 21,181 | $77,662 | $350,939 |
| 66 | Crystal | 22,476 | $92,513 | $318,582 |
| 67 | East Bethel | 12,115 | $110,000 | $414,303 |
| 68 | Vadnais Heights | 12,838 | $98,685 | $370,284 |
| 69 | Mound | 9,107 | $86,675 | $378,827 |
| 70 | Hopkins | 18,819 | $75,234 | $330,893 |
| 71 | Coon Rapids | 63,468 | $88,251 | $325,994 |
| 72 | Robbinsdale | 14,234 | $88,252 | $313,988 |
| 73 | Roseville | 35,802 | $86,930 | $374,912 |
| 73 | Spring Lake Park | 7,032 | $90,753 | $318,674 |
| 75 | Anoka | 17,970 | $75,948 | $326,597 |
| 76 | Bloomington | 88,665 | $93,211 | $361,589 |
| 76 | South St. Paul | 20,611 | $87,994 | $295,755 |
| 78 | Brooklyn Park | 83,876 | $89,891 | $347,073 |
| 79 | Richfield | 36,642 | $85,132 | $347,412 |
| 80 | Burnsville | 64,463 | $87,024 | $368,611 |
| 81 | West St. Paul | 21,382 | $68,464 | $317,548 |
| 82 | Little Canada | 10,514 | $77,957 | $362,746 |
| 83 | Maplewood | 40,695 | $91,394 | $342,804 |
| 84 | Fridley | 30,241 | $77,680 | $318,919 |
| 85 | Columbia Heights | 22,155 | $73,691 | $295,929 |
| 86 | Brooklyn Center | 32,479 | $72,535 | $297,384 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS via Saturday Night Science. 86 Minnesota suburbs within 30 miles of a city over 200,000.
Summary
Summary: There You Have It – The Best Suburbs In Minnesota
If you’re measuring the locations in Minnesota where there are lots to do, and everyone wants to live, this is an accurate list.
The best suburbs in Minnesota are Plymouth, Mendota Heights, Edina, Elko New Market, Lakeville, Corcoran, Minnetonka, Minnetrista, Orono, and Rogers.
