More and more people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround St. Paul to avoid all the hustle and bustle.
So the question arises: what suburbs of St. Paul are the worst?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which St. Paul ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the St. Paul area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to St. Paul proper, although Deephaven certainly tries.
We examined the 99 biggest suburbs of St. Paul to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in Minnesota lists, these places are a little too far downwind of St. Paul in terms of quality of life.
$72,535 median income · $297,384 median home price
Located in
Hennepin County, Minnesota
We’ll get the ball rolling with Brooklyn Center, the absolute worst place to live around St. Paul according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, Brooklyn Center beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 4th worst in the St. Paul area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 3rd worst when it comes to home values.
But hey, at least it’s cheap to live there. But there’s a reason for that… it’s Brooklyn Center.
You won’t feel bad about not having a great income for the area. There aren’t a bunch of places to spend your money anyway.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$71,979 median income · $341,540 median home price
Welcome to Newport. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 7.3 miles to St. Paul. Income levels here are the 3rd lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $71,979 a year, which only goes so far even on a shoestring budget.
But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.
Data | Movers
$77,680 median income · $318,919 median home price
Located in
Anoka County, Minnesota
Back up the highway we go for the third worst St. Paul suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Fridley on here. While the cost of living is low, your entertainment and work options are limited. And that’s an understatement.
In terms of numbers, it’s in the worst 15% for insurance, and the adult high school dropout rate is poor compared to other St. Paul suburbs.
But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$73,691 median income · $295,929 median home price
Located in
Anoka County, Minnesota
If you live in Columbia Heights, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 5th lowest St. Paul suburb for median household incomes.
Not only that, but this is the 11th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near St. Paul. Remember, we looked at 99 cities for this study.
Columbia Heights is about 9.8 miles to downtown.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$75,347 median income · $319,764 median home price
Lexington has the distinction of being a St. Paul suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Lexington has the 13th lowest home values in the metro St. Paul area, where the median price is $319,764. The median income is $231,742.
Lexington has an unemployment rate of 4.7% which ranks 22nd worst.
$87,024 median income · $368,611 median home price
Located in
Dakota County, Minnesota
Burnsville has 64,463 residents that probably know it’s a pretty crummy place to live when you look at the data. (Or, if you’ve ever been there, you don’t need to look at the data.)
Incomes are towards the bottom, and the poverty rate sits at 10.8%.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$75,234 median income · $330,893 median home price
Located in
Hennepin County, Minnesota
Ah, Hopkins. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around St. Paul.
It’s the place with the 4th most out of work residents in the St. Paul metro area (6.4%).
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$80,846 median income · $330,882 median home price
Located in
Hennepin County, Minnesota
Minneapolis is a city about 8.1 miles from St. Paul, but St. Paul probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a worse place to live. Minneapolis has the 19th most uninsured people, 15th worst incomes, and has the 6th highest unemployment rate (5.9%) in the entire St. Paul metro area.
Homes only cost $330,882 for a reason. That’s cheap for St. Paul standards.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
$77,957 median income · $362,746 median home price
Located in
Ramsey County, Minnesota
If you absolutely have to live near St. Paul, then Little Canada might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst St. Paul suburb.
About 5.9% of residents are out of work.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$68,464 median income · $317,548 median home price
Located in
Dakota County, Minnesota
Rounding out the ten worst St. Paul suburbs to call home is West St. Paul.
Located 3.3 miles outside the city, West St. Paul is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 26th highest unemployment rate (4.5%), and poverty is far above the area average.
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
Minnesota statewide median: 4.1%
Minnesota statewide median: 9.3%
On the map
Where the worst St. Paul suburbs are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around St. Paul for 2026
To figure out how bad a St. Paul suburb is to live in, we used Saturday Night Science to identify the kinds of things people like and then decide what suburbs have the least amount of those things.
Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2020-2024, this is the criteria we used:
- High unemployment rate
- Low median household incomes
- Low population density (no things to do)
- Low home values
- A lot of high school dropouts
- High poverty
- High rate of uninsured families
We defined a suburb as any town within 30 miles of St. Paul.
We also limited the analysis to places with over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 99 suburbs to evaluate around St. Paul.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 99 in each category, where 1 was the worst.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality-of-life index.
And finally, we crowned the city with the worst quality of life index, the “Worst Suburb near St. Paul.” We’re looking at you, Brooklyn Center.
We updated this article for 2026, which reflects our eleventh time ranking the worst suburbs around St. Paul.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Worst St. Paul Suburbs
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Worst Score | Population | Median Income | Median Home Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brooklyn Center | 16.71 | 32,479 | $72,535 | $297,384 |
| 2 | Newport | 17.43 | 4,754 | $71,979 | $341,540 |
| 3 | Fridley | 18.57 | 30,241 | $77,680 | $318,919 |
| 4 | Columbia Heights | 20.14 | 22,155 | $73,691 | $295,929 |
| 5 | Lexington | 21.43 | 2,770 | $75,347 | $319,764 |
| 6 | Burnsville | 24.29 | 64,463 | $87,024 | $368,611 |
| 7 | Hopkins | 25.07 | 18,819 | $75,234 | $330,893 |
| 8 | Minneapolis | 25.43 | 427,246 | $80,846 | $330,882 |
| 9 | Little Canada | 25.43 | 10,514 | $77,957 | $362,746 |
| 10 | West St. Paul | 25.71 | 21,382 | $68,464 | $317,548 |
| 11 | South St. Paul | 26.79 | 20,611 | $87,994 | $295,755 |
| 12 | Maplewood | 27.71 | 40,695 | $91,394 | $342,804 |
| 13 | Brooklyn Park | 28.43 | 83,876 | $89,891 | $347,073 |
| 14 | Spring Lake Park | 28.57 | 7,032 | $90,753 | $318,674 |
| 15 | Osseo | 28.93 | 2,584 | $62,119 | $306,481 |
| 16 | Anoka | 29.71 | 17,970 | $75,948 | $326,597 |
| 17 | New Hope | 30.07 | 21,181 | $77,662 | $350,939 |
| 18 | Bloomington | 30.14 | 88,665 | $93,211 | $361,589 |
| 19 | Coon Rapids | 31.57 | 63,468 | $88,251 | $325,994 |
| 20 | Richfield | 31.86 | 36,642 | $85,132 | $347,412 |
| 21 | Robbinsdale | 32.57 | 14,234 | $88,252 | $313,988 |
| 22 | Forest Lake | 35.00 | 20,729 | $92,944 | $421,551 |
| 23 | Mounds View | 35.21 | 12,926 | $90,009 | $341,297 |
| 24 | Shakopee | 36.29 | 46,012 | $107,223 | $403,598 |
| 25 | North St. Paul | 36.86 | 12,570 | $84,797 | $325,856 |
| 26 | Lauderdale | 37.36 | 2,388 | $78,684 | $304,242 |
| 27 | St. Paul Park | 37.86 | 5,457 | $100,642 | $314,770 |
| 28 | Blaine | 38.36 | 72,488 | $106,801 | $378,017 |
| 29 | Roseville | 38.43 | 35,802 | $86,930 | $374,912 |
| 30 | Crystal | 38.50 | 22,476 | $92,513 | $318,582 |
| 31 | Vadnais Heights | 39.71 | 12,838 | $98,685 | $370,284 |
| 32 | Oakdale | 41.79 | 28,585 | $93,772 | $353,330 |
| 33 | Prescott | 41.79 | 4,503 | $74,412 | $396,930 |
| 34 | New Brighton | 42.50 | 22,710 | $88,521 | $380,080 |
| 35 | Oak Park Heights | 43.07 | 4,756 | $82,476 | $344,826 |
| 36 | Somerset | 43.57 | 3,208 | $80,395 | $411,158 |
| 37 | Hastings | 44.29 | 22,117 | $93,998 | $378,760 |
| 38 | River Falls | 44.64 | 16,719 | $83,627 | $406,768 |
| 39 | White Bear Lake | 45.00 | 23,908 | $83,554 | $355,724 |
| 40 | Golden Valley | 46.00 | 21,725 | $108,772 | $437,256 |
| 41 | Inver Grove Heights | 46.21 | 35,906 | $101,316 | $374,324 |
| 42 | Mound | 46.29 | 9,107 | $86,675 | $378,827 |
| 43 | Hudson | 46.57 | 14,959 | $93,937 | $496,565 |
| 44 | Apple Valley | 47.14 | 55,679 | $97,673 | $376,121 |
| 45 | East Bethel | 48.29 | 12,115 | $110,000 | $414,303 |
| 46 | Eagan | 50.43 | 68,000 | $108,690 | $401,217 |
| 47 | Cottage Grove | 50.57 | 40,992 | $120,791 | $396,381 |
| 48 | Farmington | 50.93 | 23,902 | $123,673 | $400,171 |
| 49 | Wyoming | 51.43 | 8,087 | $107,565 | $387,741 |
| 50 | Circle Pines | 51.71 | 4,968 | $101,800 | $309,951 |
| 51 | Chaska | 51.86 | 28,706 | $110,956 | $479,348 |
| 52 | Ham Lake | 51.86 | 16,702 | $120,135 | $492,264 |
| 53 | Falcon Heights | 52.00 | 5,085 | $96,528 | $412,532 |
| 54 | Columbus | 52.00 | 4,248 | $123,194 | $471,094 |
| 55 | Ramsey | 52.64 | 28,421 | $116,415 | $381,243 |
| 56 | Savage | 52.86 | 32,889 | $125,513 | $427,463 |
| 57 | Arden Hills | 53.00 | 9,658 | $134,118 | $477,166 |
| 58 | Shoreview | 54.57 | 26,714 | $108,370 | $410,993 |
| 59 | Woodbury | 55.07 | 78,305 | $125,310 | $457,355 |
| 60 | St. Louis Park | 55.14 | 49,594 | $101,648 | $379,371 |
| 61 | Champlin | 55.64 | 23,294 | $116,102 | $370,691 |
| 62 | Stillwater | 56.14 | 19,355 | $105,853 | $445,501 |
| 63 | Dayton | 57.29 | 9,095 | $148,947 | $509,219 |
| 64 | Bayport | 57.43 | 3,905 | $125,893 | $434,119 |
| 65 | St. Anthony | 59.14 | 9,671 | $97,363 | $396,789 |
| 66 | Lino Lakes | 59.71 | 22,113 | $127,181 | $447,709 |
| 67 | Eden Prairie | 60.00 | 63,051 | $130,489 | $501,363 |
| 68 | Andover | 60.43 | 33,035 | $137,593 | $435,598 |
| 69 | Rosemount | 60.71 | 27,562 | $129,625 | $432,777 |
| 70 | Medina | 62.43 | 6,968 | $230,859 | $832,022 |
| 71 | Centerville | 62.50 | 3,935 | $122,541 | $397,125 |
| 72 | Excelsior | 63.07 | 2,570 | $103,068 | $799,758 |
| 73 | Oak Grove | 63.57 | 9,130 | $117,696 | $462,896 |
| 74 | Grant | 64.07 | 3,950 | $150,875 | $713,726 |
| 75 | Afton | 64.29 | 2,957 | $133,305 | $711,857 |
| 76 | Shorewood | 64.64 | 7,647 | $171,063 | $804,465 |
| 77 | Scandia | 65.21 | 3,950 | $101,953 | $540,660 |
| 78 | Maple Grove | 65.71 | 71,173 | $132,731 | $424,803 |
| 79 | Minnetrista | 65.71 | 8,708 | $163,051 | $684,705 |
| 80 | Hugo | 66.36 | 16,340 | $116,228 | $432,376 |
| 81 | North Oaks | 66.36 | 5,179 | $231,742 | $936,794 |
| 82 | Minnetonka | 67.07 | 53,064 | $119,517 | $483,591 |
| 83 | Carver | 68.14 | 6,239 | $147,697 | $493,733 |
| 84 | Prior Lake | 69.07 | 28,016 | $134,255 | $525,577 |
| 85 | Corcoran | 69.29 | 7,302 | $133,423 | $601,129 |
| 86 | North Hudson | 69.57 | 3,819 | $122,647 | $403,225 |
| 87 | Chanhassen | 71.00 | 26,006 | $143,651 | $548,742 |
| 88 | Lakeville | 71.00 | 74,354 | $139,041 | $487,882 |
| 89 | Orono | 72.29 | 8,195 | $173,527 | $1,113,974 |
| 90 | Rogers | 72.79 | 13,685 | $158,750 | $458,983 |
| 91 | Mahtomedi | 72.86 | 8,133 | $123,319 | $478,624 |
| 92 | Edina | 73.64 | 53,262 | $128,767 | $615,641 |
| 93 | Lake Elmo | 73.71 | 13,140 | $153,669 | $618,480 |
| 94 | Elko New Market | 73.86 | 5,002 | $152,150 | $472,662 |
| 95 | Wayzata | 74.36 | 4,354 | $131,614 | $913,298 |
| 96 | Plymouth | 75.50 | 79,220 | $136,534 | $508,713 |
| 97 | Mendota Heights | 76.57 | 11,612 | $132,768 | $562,137 |
| 98 | Victoria | 80.86 | 11,295 | $195,639 | $608,561 |
| 99 | Deephaven | 84.64 | 3,793 | $197,679 | $1,062,991 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 99 suburbs within 30 miles of St. Paul.
Summary
Summary: The areas around St. Paul where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2026
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding St. Paul with Brooklyn Center casting itself ahead of the pack.
The worst suburbs of St. Paul are Brooklyn Center, Newport, Fridley, Columbia Heights, Lexington, Burnsville, Hopkins, Minneapolis, Little Canada, and West St. Paul.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around St. Paul aren’t all bad. Deephaven takes the cake as the best place to live around St. Paul. Not sold on Minnesota? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Worst Suburbs Of St. Paul FAQs
What is the worst suburb of St. Paul?
Brooklyn Center ranks as the worst suburb around St. Paul for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Newport and Fridley are next on the list.
What are the worst suburbs of St. Paul?
The worst-ranked suburbs around St. Paul are Brooklyn Center, Newport, Fridley, Columbia Heights, Lexington, Burnsville, Hopkins, Minneapolis, Little Canada, and West St. Paul. We scored all 99 places within 30 miles.
Why does Brooklyn Center rank as the worst suburb?
Brooklyn Center posts the roughest combined numbers of the 99 suburbs we scored: a median household income of $72,535, a median home value of $297,384, and a poverty rate of 12.3%.
What is the best-ranked suburb near St. Paul?
Deephaven lands at the opposite end of this ranking, making it the best-ranked suburb near St. Paul by these measures. Our separate best suburbs of St. Paul list covers that side properly.
How do you rank the worst suburbs?
Suburbs are scored on unemployment, income, density, home values, dropouts, poverty, and insurance coverage, using Census American Community Survey data. Real numbers, light heart — every one of these towns has people making it work.
