You’ll need to have a Minnesota Woodsman’s ethos to enjoy the lowest cost of living places in the North Star State.
It turns out the exurbs are home to the most affordable places to live in Minnesota
We determined the most affordable places to live in Minnesota using Saturday Night Science. Using the Census data for home prices, incomes, and cost of living, we ranked every city in Minnesota in terms of affordability.
So, crank some Purple Rain, grab some hot dish, and read on to find your place amongst the 11,000 lakes.
$51,720 median income · $792 median rent · #1 home prices in Minnesota
Located in
St. Louis County, Minnesota
Virginia is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States, on the Mesabi Iron Range. The population was 8,712 at the 2010 census. According to a water tower in the middle of town, the city’s nickname is the “Queen City”, or “Queen City of the North”.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$55,789 median income · $833 median rent · #3 home prices in Minnesota
Located in
St. Louis County, Minnesota
If you’re trying to live the high life without breaking the bank, there’s probably nowhere better in Minnesota than Hibbing, the second most affordable city overall statewide. Renters can rejoice at Hibbing’s super low median rent of $833/month, the lowest price you’ll see on this list. But what really moves Hibbing to the top spot is the affordability of its houses. With residents earning a median income of $55,789 and paying a median home price of $154,907, Hibbing is firmly in the top ten in Minnesota for home price to income ratio.
To learn a little more about the root of the riches that helped make Hibbing the affordable city it is today, definitely check out the Hull Rust Mine, one of the largest open-pit mines in the world. Admission is free, in keeping with the cheap theme.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$64,603 median income · $857 median rent · #6 home prices in Minnesota
Located in
Freeborn County, Minnesota
Albert Lea, situated in the southern part of Minnesota, shines as the third most affordable city thanks to its reasonable housing costs, where it ranks 6 in home values, and a favorable 2.71 ratio. The city’s economic stability is evident through its placement in the 4th quartile for income levels and a modest 5.71%, ensuring that living expenses are well within reach for its residents. Albert Lea leverages its location at the crossroads of Interstates 35 and 90, offering both affordability and a high quality of life in MN.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$61,797 median income · $938 median rent · #16 home prices in Minnesota
Located in
Nobles County, Minnesota
It’s definitely worth the savings to consider moving to Worthington in southwestern Minnesota. The city’s cost of living is 11.9% cheaper than the Minnesota average, making it an economical enclave.
According to Zillow data, the city’s housing market is affordable, with a median home value of $240,254. You can use that money you save on housing to add bacon to your next Jucy Lucy.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$68,596 median income · $851 median rent · #12 home prices in Minnesota
You’d have a tough time believing you’re living in one of the most expensive states in America when you’re in Montevideo. Homes in Montevideo are the 12th cheapest in Minnesota, with a median price tag of $210,238. With residents earning a median income of $68,596, they pay the 12th smallest proportion of their income toward homes of anywhere in the state. Rent is also quite cheap in Montevideo, but it’s still more economical to buy.
Montevideo is located in the western part of the state, where the Minnesota and Chippewa Rivers converge.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$61,750 median income · $832 median rent · #4 home prices in Minnesota
Located in the south-central part of the state, Redwood Falls ranks as the sixth most affordable city in Minnesota. Redwood Falls has the fourth cheapest homes in the state, with a median price tag of $167,808. Coupled with a median income of $61,750, Redwood Falls has the fifth lowest home price to income ratio in Minnesota. If you stick to free activities like hiking at Alexander Ramsey Park, you’ll have even more money left in your wallet at the end of every week.
Data | Movers
$57,662 median income · $645 median rent · #2 home prices in Minnesota
Located in
Koochiching County, Minnesota
Located on the border of Canada, International Falls goes by the nickname “Icebox of the Nation.” But if you can withstand the bitter cold, International Falls has some sweet deals for you. The second least expensive homes in Minnesota are in International Falls, where the median home price is $153,166. With residents earning a median income of $57,662, International Falls has one of the best home price to income ratios in the state.
As a budgeting bonus, admission to Smokey Bear Park is totally free. Just don’t get spooked by the 26-foot bear when you drive in.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$56,162 median income · $911 median rent · #10 home prices in Minnesota
Located in
Otter Tail County, Minnesota
Fergus Falls is a city in and the county seat of Otter Tail County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,138 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$72,836 median income · $940 median rent · #32 home prices in Minnesota
Located in
McLeod County, Minnesota
Hutchinson is the largest city in McLeod County, Minnesota, United States, along the South Fork of the Crow River. The population was 14,178 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$57,315 median income · $848 median rent · #7 home prices in Minnesota
Located in
Polk County, Minnesota
You don’t need to be a crook to have all the money you need in Crookston, the tenth most inexpensive city in Minnesota. The median home price in Crookston is $183,132 and the median income is $57,315, so paying off the mortgage in Crookston happens in no time flat. With a median rent of $848, Crookston isn’t as affordable for renters, when looked at as a proportion of income.
Crookston is in the northwestern part of the state, a half hour southeast of Grand Forks, North Dakota.
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: $346,668
Minnesota statewide median: $89,062
On the map
Where your money goes furthest in Minnesota
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the most affordable places to live in the North Star State for 2026
Determining affordability for places in Minnesota boils down to how much it costs to live here.
You need to understand your costs relative to what people in the rest of the state are paying.
With that logic in mind, we derived several cost of living statistics from the latest Census American Community Survey 2020-2024 for Minnesota using Saturday Night Science. We indexed the cost of living statistics across the following categories:
- Housing
- Transportation
- Services
- Groceries
- Healthcare
- Utilities
These are then weighted together to produce an overall cost of living index where 100 is the United States average. Anything below 100 is relatively affordable. Anything over 100 is relatively expensive.
We applied the biggest weight to housing as it typically accounts for 25% or more of your budget. Additionally, housing costs are the highest variant cost across a state. We then compare these cost of living metrics for each place in Minnesota to figure out which is the least expensive.
The “Cost of Living Index” allows you to rank all of the 151 places in Minnesota that have more than 5,000 people from least expensive to most expensive. Any ties went to the larger city.
The place in Minnesota with the lowest cost of living according to the data is Virginia.
We updated this article for 2026. This report reflects our eleventh time ranking the cheapest places to live in Minnesota.
The full plate
Cheapest Places To Live In Minnesota
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Cost Of Living Index | Median Income | Home Prices | Rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Virginia | 8,332 | 85 | $51,720 | $128,643 | $792 |
| 2 | Hibbing | 16,057 | 87 | $55,789 | $154,907 | $833 |
| 3 | Albert Lea | 18,330 | 89 | $64,603 | $175,274 | $857 |
| 4 | Worthington | 13,780 | 89 | $61,797 | $240,254 | $938 |
| 5 | Montevideo | 5,315 | 89 | $68,596 | $210,238 | $851 |
| 6 | Redwood Falls | 5,068 | 89 | $61,750 | $167,808 | $832 |
| 7 | International Falls | 5,642 | 90 | $57,662 | $153,166 | $645 |
| 8 | Fergus Falls | 14,181 | 91 | $56,162 | $197,185 | $911 |
| 9 | Hutchinson | 14,680 | 92 | $72,836 | $293,087 | $940 |
| 10 | Crookston | 7,344 | 92 | $57,315 | $183,132 | $848 |
| 11 | Austin | 26,358 | 93 | $68,057 | $185,657 | $953 |
| 12 | Willmar | 21,378 | 93 | $62,280 | $237,639 | $910 |
| 13 | Brainerd | 14,468 | 93 | $56,111 | $307,940 | $827 |
| 14 | Marshall | 13,896 | 93 | $68,566 | $235,137 | $779 |
| 15 | Waseca | 9,164 | 93 | $64,074 | $241,937 | $903 |
| 16 | Thief River Falls | 8,823 | 93 | $71,144 | $184,519 | $838 |
| 17 | New Ulm | 14,056 | 94 | $64,449 | $244,183 | $962 |
| 18 | Fairmont | 10,296 | 94 | $53,084 | $168,289 | $738 |
| 19 | Winona | 26,009 | 95 | $56,337 | $252,453 | $882 |
| 20 | Little Falls | 9,121 | 95 | $47,863 | $267,869 | $747 |
| 21 | Morris | 5,128 | 95 | $67,727 | $204,683 | $950 |
| 22 | Bemidji | 15,569 | 96 | $55,405 | $213,684 | $1,067 |
| 23 | Grand Rapids | 11,207 | 96 | $61,029 | $274,252 | $1,090 |
| 24 | Waite Park | 8,399 | 96 | $59,285 | $249,244 | $1,117 |
| 25 | Litchfield | 6,576 | 96 | $54,875 | $250,188 | $987 |
| 26 | Glencoe | 5,695 | 96 | $71,356 | $246,914 | $1,101 |
| 27 | St. Cloud | 70,629 | 97 | $61,374 | $253,365 | $1,003 |
| 28 | Red Wing | 16,758 | 97 | $67,192 | $283,795 | $969 |
| 29 | Cloquet | 12,537 | 97 | $61,367 | $256,234 | $1,024 |
| 30 | St. Peter | 12,185 | 97 | $65,122 | $294,105 | $961 |
| 31 | St. Joseph | 7,021 | 97 | $74,946 | $337,103 | $1,136 |
| 32 | Princeton | 5,274 | 97 | $62,219 | $367,880 | $991 |
| 33 | Owatonna | 26,498 | 98 | $80,750 | $294,000 | $1,067 |
| 34 | La Crescent | 5,251 | 98 | $85,368 | $352,203 | $889 |
| 35 | Mankato | 45,473 | 99 | $66,873 | $304,131 | $1,132 |
| 36 | Moorhead | 45,036 | 99 | $72,761 | $278,445 | $1,033 |
| 37 | Faribault | 24,631 | 99 | $61,449 | $297,210 | $1,074 |
| 38 | Alexandria | 14,735 | 99 | $61,374 | $287,191 | $934 |
| 39 | Detroit Lakes | 10,025 | 99 | $62,958 | $361,195 | $954 |
| 40 | East Grand Forks | 9,028 | 99 | $77,549 | $284,569 | $888 |
| 41 | Stewartville | 6,807 | 99 | $82,632 | $332,964 | $1,070 |
| 42 | Duluth | 87,093 | 100 | $68,807 | $284,100 | $1,087 |
| 43 | South St. Paul | 20,611 | 100 | $87,994 | $295,755 | $1,199 |
| 44 | Sauk Rapids | 13,852 | 100 | $71,841 | $294,873 | $964 |
| 45 | Kasson | 7,050 | 100 | $93,333 | $323,084 | $1,113 |
| 46 | Lake City | 5,034 | 100 | $72,244 | $315,644 | $871 |
| 47 | Cambridge | 10,307 | 101 | $69,154 | $323,785 | $1,302 |
| 48 | Spring Lake Park | 7,032 | 101 | $90,753 | $318,674 | $1,413 |
| 49 | Brooklyn Center | 32,479 | 102 | $72,535 | $297,384 | $1,376 |
| 50 | Buffalo | 16,499 | 102 | $88,820 | $373,017 | $1,182 |
| 51 | Belle Plaine | 7,423 | 102 | $99,315 | $350,700 | $1,342 |
| 52 | Becker | 5,034 | 102 | $86,094 | $375,295 | $889 |
| 53 | St. Paul | 307,284 | 103 | $73,394 | $293,972 | $1,281 |
| 54 | Crystal | 22,476 | 103 | $92,513 | $318,582 | $1,467 |
| 55 | West St. Paul | 21,382 | 103 | $68,464 | $317,548 | $1,282 |
| 56 | Northfield | 20,742 | 103 | $84,895 | $385,012 | $1,103 |
| 57 | Anoka | 17,970 | 103 | $75,948 | $326,597 | $1,269 |
| 58 | Isanti | 7,210 | 103 | $87,500 | $328,360 | $1,256 |
| 59 | St. Paul Park | 5,457 | 103 | $100,642 | $314,770 | $2,174 |
| 60 | Columbia Heights | 22,155 | 104 | $73,691 | $295,929 | $1,295 |
| 61 | Robbinsdale | 14,234 | 104 | $88,252 | $313,988 | $1,758 |
| 62 | North Mankato | 14,211 | 104 | $80,791 | $310,329 | $973 |
| 63 | Baxter | 8,966 | 104 | $70,688 | $364,190 | $1,154 |
| 64 | Zimmerman | 6,546 | 104 | $85,645 | $330,831 | $1,398 |
| 65 | Fridley | 30,241 | 105 | $77,680 | $318,919 | $1,326 |
| 66 | Hastings | 22,117 | 105 | $93,998 | $378,760 | $1,183 |
| 67 | Sartell | 19,758 | 105 | $84,131 | $338,333 | $1,275 |
| 68 | Monticello | 14,858 | 105 | $79,534 | $325,077 | $1,405 |
| 69 | Mounds View | 12,926 | 105 | $90,009 | $341,297 | $1,245 |
| 70 | North St. Paul | 12,570 | 105 | $84,797 | $325,856 | $1,352 |
| 71 | North Branch | 11,565 | 105 | $90,456 | $349,510 | $1,308 |
| 72 | Coon Rapids | 63,468 | 106 | $88,251 | $325,994 | $1,494 |
| 73 | Richfield | 36,642 | 106 | $85,132 | $347,412 | $1,393 |
| 74 | Elk River | 26,793 | 106 | $108,741 | $391,288 | $1,283 |
| 75 | Big Lake | 12,367 | 106 | $120,549 | $368,168 | $1,340 |
| 76 | Albertville | 8,207 | 106 | $132,734 | $375,310 | $1,348 |
| 77 | Maplewood | 40,695 | 107 | $91,394 | $342,804 | $1,406 |
| 78 | Little Canada | 10,514 | 107 | $77,957 | $362,746 | $1,417 |
| 79 | St. Francis | 8,372 | 107 | $111,198 | $346,284 | $1,287 |
| 80 | Rochester | 122,330 | 108 | $89,389 | $339,455 | $1,399 |
| 81 | Brooklyn Park | 83,876 | 108 | $89,891 | $347,073 | $1,325 |
| 82 | White Bear Lake | 23,908 | 108 | $83,554 | $355,724 | $1,601 |
| 83 | Delano | 6,942 | 108 | $109,946 | $435,729 | $964 |
| 84 | Oakdale | 28,585 | 109 | $93,772 | $353,330 | $1,481 |
| 85 | Vadnais Heights | 12,838 | 109 | $98,685 | $370,284 | $1,455 |
| 86 | Mound | 9,107 | 109 | $86,675 | $378,827 | $1,098 |
| 87 | New Prague | 8,237 | 109 | $94,539 | $350,351 | $1,389 |
| 88 | Wyoming | 8,087 | 109 | $107,565 | $387,741 | $1,166 |
| 89 | Byron | 6,646 | 109 | $124,010 | $398,896 | $1,135 |
| 90 | New Hope | 21,181 | 110 | $77,662 | $350,939 | $1,335 |
| 91 | Jordan | 6,771 | 110 | $110,057 | $437,126 | $1,192 |
| 92 | Chisago City | 5,899 | 110 | $102,197 | $435,543 | $1,321 |
| 93 | Champlin | 23,294 | 111 | $116,102 | $370,691 | $1,689 |
| 94 | Bloomington | 88,665 | 112 | $93,211 | $361,589 | $1,561 |
| 95 | Farmington | 23,902 | 112 | $123,673 | $400,171 | $1,241 |
| 96 | St. Michael | 20,010 | 112 | $131,274 | $426,652 | $1,483 |
| 97 | Hopkins | 18,819 | 112 | $75,234 | $330,893 | $1,468 |
| 98 | East Bethel | 12,115 | 112 | $110,000 | $414,303 | $1,695 |
| 99 | Roseville | 35,802 | 113 | $86,930 | $374,912 | $1,374 |
| 100 | New Brighton | 22,710 | 113 | $88,521 | $380,080 | $1,397 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024, cost-of-living data. 151 places with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Minnesota Affordability Summary
This is an accurate list of the most affordable places to live in Minnesota for 2026, if you’re looking at the cost of living numbers in Minnesota.
The cheapest cities in Minnesota are Virginia, Hibbing, Albert Lea, Worthington, Montevideo, Redwood Falls, International Falls, Fergus Falls, Hutchinson, and Crookston.
