The 10 Worst St. Paul Suburbs For 2023


We used data and Friday Night Science to identify the worst suburbs of St. Paul for 2023. The worst St. Paul suburbs are Brooklyn Center and Lexington.

The suburbs of St. Paul call to all types of people looking to escape city live. Some 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, do the suburbs maintain a semblance of the larger-than-life appeal of their more famous neighbor?

Today, we’ll use science and data 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’t expect all the suburbs to live up to St. Paul proper, although Deephaven certainly tries.

Of course, not all suburbs of St. Paul are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones..

We examined the 100 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 ten places are a little too far downwind of St. Paul in terms of quality of life.

Here are the 10 worst suburbs around St. Paul for 2023:

  1. Brooklyn Center
  2. Lexington
  3. Somerset
  4. Fridley
  5. Newport
  6. South St. Paul
  7. Little Canada
  8. West St. Paul
  9. Columbia Heights
  10. Minneapolis

What’s the worst suburb of St. Paul? Brooklyn Center ranks as the worst suburb of St. Paul for 2023 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.

Read on to see how we determined the places around St. Paul that need a pick-me-up. And remember, don’t blame the messenger.

Or, if you’re thinking of moving to elsewhere in Minnesota check out the best places in Minnesota overall or the worst.

And remember, there are some good places to live around St. Paul too.



For more Minnesota reading, check out:

The 10 Worst St. Paul Suburbs To Live For 2023

Brooklyn Center, MN

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 33,298
Rank Last Year: 2 (Up 1)
Median Income: $64,618 (7th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.3% (7th highest)
Median Home Value: $203,200 (2nd lowest)
More on Brooklyn Center:  Data | Photos

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 7th worst in the St. Paul area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 2nd 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.

Lexington, MN

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,071
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $69,318 (15th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.1% (4th highest)
Median Home Value: $228,400 (13th lowest)
More on Lexington:  Data | Photos

Welcome to Lexington. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.

This city is 13.5 miles to St. Paul. Income levels here are the 15th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $69,318 a year, which doesn’t go a long ways even on a shoestring budget.

But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.

3. Somerset

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,986
Rank Last Year: 3 (No Change)
Median Income: $67,267 (11th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.4% (30th highest)
Median Home Value: $195,700 (lowest)
More on Somerset:

Back up the highway we go for the third worst St. Paul suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Somerset 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 drop out rate is poor compared to other St. Paul suburbs.

But at least there are nice parks to bring the kids during the day.

Fridley, MN

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 29,422
Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 1)
Median Income: $68,910 (13th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.6% (10th highest)
Median Home Value: $224,700 (10th lowest)
More on Fridley:  Data | Photos

If you live in Fridley, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 13th lowest St. Paul suburb when it comes to residents making money.

Not only that, but this is the 10th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near St. Paul. Remember, we looked at 100 cities for this study.

Fridley is about 12.1 miles to downtown.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 3,951
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 1)
Median Income: $58,455 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 3.1% (52nd highest)
Median Home Value: $246,000 (24th lowest)
More on Newport:  Data

Newport has the distinction of being a St. Paul suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.

All snarkiness aside, Newport has the 24th lowest home values in the metro St. Paul area, where the median price is $246,000. To put that into perspective, in Deephaven, the median income is $220,861, which is the best in the area.

Newport has an unemployment rate of 3.13% which ranks 52nd worst.

South St. Paul, MN

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 20,637
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 2)
Median Income: $71,308 (19th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.7% (5th highest)
Median Home Value: $220,200 (6th lowest)
More on South St. Paul:  Data | Photos

South St. Paul has 20,637 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 10.484577211248421%.

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 10,704
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 2)
Median Income: $61,959 (5th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.2% (15th highest)
Median Home Value: $247,200 (25th lowest)
More on Little Canada:  Data

Ah, Little Canada. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around St. Paul.

It’s the place with the 15th most out of work residents in the St. Paul metro area (5.16%).

West St. Paul, MN

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 20,476
Rank Last Year: 7 (Down 1)
Median Income: $57,434 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.1% (18th highest)
Median Home Value: $232,400 (17th lowest)
More on West St. Paul:  Data | Photos

West St. Paul is a city about 3.3 miles from St. Paul, but St. Paul probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb for 2018.

You’d be hard pressed to find a worse place to live. West St. Paul has the 19th most uninsured people, 2nd worst incomes, and has the 18th highest unemployment rate (5.1%) in the entire St. Paul metro area.

Homes only cost $232,400 for a reason. That’s cheap for St. Paul standards.

Columbia Heights, MN

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 21,612
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 3)
Median Income: $69,460 (17th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 3.9% (4highest)
Median Home Value: $211,100 (4th lowest)
More on Columbia Heights:  Data | Photos

If you absolutely have to live near St. Paul, then Columbia Heights might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst St. Paul suburb.

About 3.87% of residents are out of work.

Minneapolis, MN

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 425,091
Rank Last Year: 15 (Up 5)
Median Income: $70,099 (18th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.6% (9th highest)
Median Home Value: $284,400 (44th lowest)
More on Minneapolis:  Data | Photos

Rounding out the ten worst St. Paul suburbs to call home is Minneapolis.

Located 8.1 miles outside the city, Minneapoliss is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 9th highest unemployment rate (5.62%), and poverty is far above the area average.

Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around St. Paul for 2023

To figure out how bad a St. Paul suburb is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what suburbs have the least amount of those things.

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2017-2021, 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 drop outs
  • High poverty
  • High rate of uninsured families

FYI: We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of St. Paul.

Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 1,000 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 “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 lookin’ at you, Brooklyn Center.

Read on below to learn more about what it’s like to live in the worst of the worst. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from worst to best.

Editor’s Note: This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. Don’t freak out we updated this article for 2023. This is our tenth time ranking the worst suburbs around St. Paul.

Summary: The areas around St. Paul where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2023

Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding St. Paul with Brooklyn Center casting itself ahead of the pack.

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.

  • Deephaven
  • North Oaks
  • North Hudson

For more Minnesota reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Worst St. Paul Suburbs

Rank City Population Median Income Median Home Values
1 Brooklyn Center 33,298 $64,618 $203,200
2 Lexington 2,071 $69,318 $228,400
3 Somerset 2,986 $67,267 $195,700
4 Fridley 29,422 $68,910 $224,700
5 Newport 3,951 $58,455 $246,000
6 South St. Paul 20,637 $71,308 $220,200
7 Little Canada 10,704 $61,959 $247,200
8 West St. Paul 20,476 $57,434 $232,400
9 Columbia Heights 21,612 $69,460 $211,100
10 Minneapolis 425,091 $70,099 $284,400
11 Brooklyn Park 85,247 $76,620 $248,900
12 Spring Lake Park 6,920 $72,083 $224,300
13 New Hope 21,683 $64,929 $249,600
14 Robbinsdale 14,522 $69,239 $228,000
15 Richfield 36,899 $74,301 $259,200
16 Oakdale 28,019 $78,586 $244,900
17 Burnsville 63,926 $79,059 $275,500
18 Mounds View 13,187 $78,208 $236,600
19 Maplewood 41,673 $77,316 $243,100
20 Hopkins 18,861 $60,824 $289,500
21 Anoka 17,749 $66,160 $229,400
22 Bloomington 89,436 $80,582 $279,400
23 St. Paul Park 5,490 $85,061 $222,900
24 Coon Rapids 63,269 $79,110 $228,900
25 River Falls 16,058 $67,158 $236,100
26 Forest Lake 20,366 $87,753 $299,800
27 Osseo 2,643 $63,317 $222,700
28 Arden Hills 9,868 $109,707 $326,900
29 North St. Paul 12,395 $71,528 $231,000
30 Lauderdale 2,479 $68,313 $235,500
31 Vadnais Heights 12,931 $84,269 $269,200
32 Blaine 68,999 $90,484 $257,700
33 Roseville 36,119 $82,040 $281,100
34 Crystal 23,143 $77,117 $227,100
35 Shakopee 43,396 $96,473 $295,000
36 Inver Grove Heights 35,539 $89,141 $284,700
37 New Brighton 23,293 $77,031 $287,200
38 Bayport 3,801 $92,292 $287,500
39 White Bear Lake 24,520 $75,963 $256,100
40 Ramsey 27,409 $101,996 $281,800
41 Prescott 4,348 $69,346 $204,600
42 Spring Park 1,921 $47,117 $536,600
43 Circle Pines 5,001 $88,504 $214,300
44 Oak Park Heights 4,720 $80,968 $275,800
45 Apple Valley 55,237 $91,936 $291,400
46 Eagan 68,205 $98,503 $312,100
47 Falcon Heights 5,388 $77,685 $315,500
48 Hudson 14,500 $85,521 $282,900
49 Wyoming 7,984 $88,819 $264,400
50 Chaska 27,461 $95,633 $310,800
51 East Bethel 11,818 $101,949 $284,300
52 Hastings 22,063 $81,802 $239,600
53 Farmington 23,253 $105,394 $286,400
54 Savage 32,092 $115,574 $340,300
55 Champlin 23,877 $104,200 $271,300
56 Oak Grove 8,870 $112,073 $334,600
57 Dayton 7,257 $119,741 $400,000
58 Golden Valley 22,247 $104,526 $343,200
59 Columbus 4,169 $103,977 $332,100
60 Carver 5,837 $115,655 $342,800
61 Centerville 3,899 $111,607 $280,400
62 Corcoran 6,317 $145,897 $429,600
63 Maple Grove 69,900 $118,479 $324,500
64 St. Louis Park 49,539 $87,639 $308,800
65 Shoreview 26,871 $101,733 $314,000
66 Eden Prairie 64,048 $120,170 $383,300
67 Cottage Grove 38,582 $108,887 $282,000
68 Afton 2,936 $114,574 $563,300
69 Stillwater 19,243 $98,033 $325,400
70 Mound 9,365 $80,583 $279,300
71 Hugo 15,541 $99,587 $292,400
72 Minnetrista 8,215 $153,546 $480,700
73 Minnetonka 53,809 $106,023 $373,000
74 Excelsior 2,389 $88,000 $726,000
75 Chanhassen 25,646 $123,566 $426,200
76 Rosemount 25,513 $117,416 $320,600
77 Woodbury 74,014 $114,252 $355,200
78 Prior Lake 27,242 $115,837 $348,700
79 Elko New Market 4,777 $138,603 $344,300
80 Grant 3,966 $124,871 $520,400
81 Andover 32,471 $118,943 $330,800
82 Wayzata 4,367 $94,097 $677,900
83 Lino Lakes 21,180 $112,742 $308,600
84 Lakeville 69,026 $119,970 $342,100
85 Shorewood 7,779 $149,792 $559,800
86 St. Anthony 9,145 $88,531 $304,600
87 Lake Elmo 11,237 $159,509 $475,400
88 Ham Lake 16,389 $107,000 $347,500
89 Orono 8,252 $159,816 $766,700
90 Rogers 13,182 $137,031 $361,200
91 Edina 53,059 $115,047 $537,400
92 Scandia 3,971 $91,106 $428,000
93 Victoria 10,361 $167,418 $478,600
94 Plymouth 80,034 $119,813 $387,800
95 Mahtomedi 8,041 $124,276 $383,800
96 Mendota Heights 11,681 $123,788 $419,000
97 Medina 6,654 $187,031 $611,800
98 North Hudson 3,814 $119,792 $328,400
99 North Oaks 5,204 $220,861 $696,800
100 Deephaven 3,878 $152,051 $649,900