There’s no denying it: there are plenty of places in Minnesota that are downright beautiful and full of excitement.
Unfortunately, not all towns and cities in MN are so lucky.
Just like in all U.S. States, there are definitely some boring places within Minnesota’s borders. You know the places: the ones where everyone has an AARP card and the most exciting thing they do all day is post a picture of their grandchild on Facebook.
Like Lake Elmo, for instance. In our latest analysis, we found that this city was the most boring city in all of Minnesota. But don’t feel bad if you’re a resident of Lake Elmo. There are plenty of other boring, lackluster places in Minnesota as well.
Here they are. Try not to jump out of your seat with excitement:
- Lake Elmo
- Mendota Heights
- Minnetrista
- Ham Lake
- Shorewood
- Corcoran
- Oak Grove
- Orono
- Hermantown
- Grand Rapids
Before you get all upset if your city’s name is on the list, rest assured that we didn’t use personal opinion when it comes to what classifies a city or town as “boring” or “exciting”. We crunched actual numbers to figure out which towns are statistically more boring.
How we determined the boring cities in the North Star State
To figure out how boring a place is, we rely on a complex algorithm that factors in things we generally think make people exciting, and then we figure out which cities have the least number of those exciting people. Here are some of the things people tend to think of as making a city’s population boring:
- % of Population Over 35 (higher is more boring)
- % of Married Household (higher is more boring)
- Average Age (higher is more boring)
- % of Households With Kids (higher is more boring)
- % of Households with People Over 65 (higher is more boring)
- Population density (lower is more boring)
Then, our algorithm generates several lists of the cities that have plenty of residents with high rankings in all of these categories. After a crunching of the numbers, a list of all of the cities magically appears listing them from most boring to most exciting.
For this list, we used every Minnesota city that qualified for our rankings based on having a population of at least 5,000 residents. This keeps us from prejudicing our rankings by including very small pockets of retired people.
Grab your rocker and hold on.
1. Lake Elmo
Population: 8,062
Average Age: 43.4
Married Households: 65.0%
Households With Kids: 39.5%
2. Mendota Heights
Population: 11,129
Average Age: 48.9
Married Households: 64.2%
Households With Kids: 28.0%
3. Minnetrista
Population: 6,523
Average Age: 40.4
Married Households: 71.2%
Households With Kids: 41.0%
4. Ham Lake
Population: 15,428
Average Age: 41.1
Married Households: 64.1%
Households With Kids: 39.2%
5. Shorewood
Population: 7,397
Average Age: 44.5
Married Households: 64.9%
Households With Kids: 39.3%
6. Corcoran
Population: 5,448
Average Age: 44.4
Married Households: 63.9%
Households With Kids: 33.2%
7. Oak Grove
Population: 8,063
Average Age: 39.8
Married Households: 67.1%
Households With Kids: 38.4%
8. Orono
Population: 7,586
Average Age: 45.5
Married Households: 67.5%
Households With Kids: 27.7%
9. Hermantown
Population: 9,498
Average Age: 41.2
Married Households: 55.8%
Households With Kids: 32.6%
10. Grand Rapids
Population: 10,906
Average Age: 44.6
Married Households: 51.2%
Households With Kids: 25.4%
Now That You’re Asleep
On a list like this, there are usually no winners, but since Minnesota isn’t necessarily the most boring state in the United States, the cities on this list can at least take solace that there are, in fact, more boring cities in the country.
Just not these places.
Detailed List Of Boring Cities In Minnesota
City | Rank |
---|---|
Lake Elmo | 1 |
Mendota Heights | 2 |
Minnetrista | 3 |
Ham Lake | 4 |
Shorewood | 5 |
Corcoran | 6 |
Oak Grove | 7 |
Orono | 8 |
Hermantown | 9 |
Grand Rapids | 10 |
East Bethel | 11 |
Fairmont | 12 |
Lake City | 13 |
Redwood Falls | 14 |
Baxter | 15 |
Victoria | 16 |
Chanhassen | 17 |
Mahtomedi | 18 |
Forest Lake | 19 |
Edina | 20 |
Lino Lakes | 21 |
St. Michael | 22 |
Red Wing | 23 |
Detroit Lakes | 24 |
Andover | 25 |
Rosemount | 26 |
Wyoming | 27 |
Hibbing | 28 |
Montevideo | 29 |
Shoreview | 30 |
Minnetonka | 31 |
Otsego | 32 |
Golden Valley | 33 |
Elk River | 34 |
Ramsey | 35 |
Litchfield | 36 |
Virginia | 37 |
Rogers | 38 |
Cottage Grove | 39 |
Fergus Falls | 40 |
Prior Lake | 41 |
Albert Lea | 42 |
Cloquet | 43 |
Kasson | 44 |
Maple Grove | 45 |
Little Falls | 46 |
Vadnais Heights | 47 |
New Ulm | 48 |
Plymouth | 49 |
Owatonna | 50 |
Inver Grove Heights | 51 |
Mound | 52 |
Stillwater | 53 |
Woodbury | 54 |
Bloomington | 55 |
Hugo | 56 |
North Branch | 57 |
Spring Lake Park | 58 |
Lakeville | 59 |
Jordan | 60 |
International Falls | 61 |
Delano | 62 |
New Prague | 63 |
Waconia | 64 |
White Bear Lake | 65 |
Blaine | 66 |
St. Francis | 67 |
Roseville | 68 |
Eden Prairie | 69 |
Farmington | 70 |
Maplewood | 71 |
Savage | 72 |
Glencoe | 73 |
St. Anthony | 74 |
Champlin | 75 |
East Grand Forks | 76 |
Belle Plaine | 77 |
Cambridge | 78 |
Hutchinson | 79 |
Sartell | 80 |
Arden Hills | 81 |
Apple Valley | 82 |
Austin | 83 |
Waseca | 84 |
Shakopee | 85 |
Chaska | 86 |
Hastings | 87 |
West St. Paul | 88 |
Worthington | 89 |
Faribault | 90 |
Stewartville | 91 |
Albertville | 92 |
North Mankato | 93 |
New Hope | 94 |
Big Lake | 95 |
New Brighton | 96 |
Eagan | 97 |
Oakdale | 98 |
Anoka | 99 |
Buffalo | 100 |
Mounds View | 101 |
Thief River Falls | 102 |
Alexandria | 103 |
Monticello | 104 |
Coon Rapids | 105 |
Rochester | 106 |
St. Paul Park | 107 |
Crystal | 108 |
Fridley | 109 |
Crookston | 110 |
Willmar | 111 |
Brainerd | 112 |
Burnsville | 113 |
Sauk Rapids | 114 |
North St. Paul | 115 |
Little Canada | 116 |
Columbia Heights | 117 |
Brooklyn Park | 118 |
Zimmerman | 119 |
Waite Park | 120 |
Isanti | 121 |
Richfield | 122 |
Brooklyn Center | 123 |
South St. Paul | 124 |
Duluth | 125 |
Bemidji | 126 |
Marshall | 127 |
Robbinsdale | 128 |
Morris | 129 |
St. Peter | 130 |
Falcon Heights | 131 |
Northfield | 132 |
Winona | 133 |
Moorhead | 134 |
St. Joseph | 135 |
St. Louis Park | 136 |
Hopkins | 137 |
St. Paul | 138 |
St. Cloud | 139 |
Mankato | 140 |
Minneapolis | 141 |