Article Table Of Contents
Not everyone is cut out for city life. Some people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround St. Paul.
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 North Oaks 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 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 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 2021:
What's the worst suburb of St. Paul? Lexington ranks as the worst suburb of St. Paul for 2021 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.
Editor's Note: If you see a slight difference between the worst in state rankings and this suburb ranking, it's because of the methodology. We needed a way to include more places, so we eliminated crime and commute times as criteria for this analysis.
For more Minnesota reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Minnesota
- Cheapest Places To Live In Minnesota
- Most Dangerous Cities In Minnesota
The 10 Worst St. Paul Suburbs To Live For 2021
/10
We'll get the ball rolling with Lexington, the absolute worst place to live around St. Paul according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, Lexington beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 5th 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 Lexington.
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.
/10
Population: 3,532
Rank Last Year: 21 (Up 19)
Median Income: $59,167 (9th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.2% (18th highest)
Median Home Value: $216,300 (22nd lowest)
More on Newport: Data
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 9th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $59,167 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.
/10
Back up the highway we go for the third worst St. Paul suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Brooklyn Center 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.
4. Somerset
/10
Population: 2,789
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 1)
Median Income: $66,146 (19th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.2% (7th highest)
Median Home Value: $172,600 (lowest)
More on Somerset:
If you live in Somerset, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 19th lowest St. Paul suburb when it comes to residents making money.
Not only that, but this is the 7th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near St. Paul. Remember, we looked at 99 cities for this study.
Somerset is about 24.3 miles to downtown.
/10
West St. Paul has the distinction of being a St. Paul suburb. Which means that's about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, West St. Paul has the 14th lowest home values in the metro St. Paul area, where the median price is $199,400. To put that into perspective, in North Oaks, the median income is $178,816, which is the best in the area.
West St. Paul has an unemployment rate of 6.32% which ranks 2nd worst.
/10
Columbia Heights has 20,118 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 12.038942138806643%.
/10
Ah, Fridley. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around St. Paul.
It's the place with the 2most out of work residents in the St. Paul metro area (4.1%).
/10
Population: 10,451
Rank Last Year: 11 (Up 3)
Median Income: $52,842 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 3.9% (25th highest)
Median Home Value: $242,500 (32nd lowest)
More on Little Canada: Data
Little Canada is a city about 5.2 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. Little Canada has the 16th most uninsured people, worst incomes, and has the 25th highest unemployment rate (3.94%) in the entire St. Paul metro area.
Homes only cost $242,500 for a reason. That's cheap for St. Paul standards.
/10
If you absolutely have to live near St. Paul, then Maplewood might be a place for you to consider as it's only the 9th worst St. Paul suburb.
About 4.29% of residents are out of work.
/10
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 8th highest unemployment rate (5.08%), and poverty is far above the area average.
Determining The Worst Suburbs Around St. Paul for 2021
To figure out how bad a place is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what cities 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 2015-2019, 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 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 lookin' at you, Lexington. You can download the data here.
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.
The areas around St. Paul where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2021
Well there you have it -- the worst of the 'burbs surrounding St. Paul with Lexington casting itself ahead of the pack.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around St. Paul aren't all bad. North Oaks takes the cake as the best place to live around St. Paul.
- North Oaks
- Deephaven
- Chanhassen
For more Minnesota reading, check out:
- Best Places To Retire In Minnesota
- Richest Cities In Minnesota
- Safest Places In Minnesota
- Worst Places To Live In Minnesota
Detailed List Of The Worst St. Paul Suburbs
Rank | City | Population |
---|---|---|
1 | Lexington | 2,144 |
2 | Newport | 3,532 |
3 | Brooklyn Center | 30,849 |
4 | Somerset | 2,789 |
5 | West St. Paul | 19,779 |
6 | Columbia Heights | 20,118 |
7 | Fridley | 27,668 |
8 | Little Canada | 10,451 |
9 | Maplewood | 40,545 |
10 | Minneapolis | 420,324 |
11 | Anoka | 17,471 |
12 | South St. Paul | 20,194 |
13 | Spring Lake Park | 6,535 |
14 | Mounds View | 13,094 |
15 | New Hope | 20,925 |
16 | Brooklyn Park | 80,068 |
17 | Inver Grove Heights | 35,320 |
18 | North St. Paul | 12,406 |
19 | Richfield | 36,063 |
20 | Burnsville | 61,311 |
21 | St. Paul Park | 5,356 |
22 | Hopkins | 18,382 |
23 | Crystal | 22,975 |
24 | River Falls | 15,638 |
25 | Bloomington | 85,332 |
26 | Coon Rapids | 62,517 |
27 | Oakdale | 27,963 |
28 | New Brighton | 22,556 |
29 | Lauderdale | 2,514 |
30 | Blaine | 64,114 |
31 | Forest Lake | 20,004 |
32 | Shakopee | 40,731 |
33 | Robbinsdale | 14,468 |
34 | Roseville | 36,026 |
35 | Osseo | 2,753 |
36 | Prescott | 4,258 |
37 | Arden Hills | 10,293 |
38 | White Bear Lake | 25,673 |
39 | Oak Park Heights | 4,889 |
40 | Dayton | 5,817 |
41 | Wyoming | 7,914 |
42 | Hastings | 22,738 |
43 | Hudson | 13,795 |
44 | Chaska | 26,371 |
45 | Vadnais Heights | 13,444 |
46 | Columbus | 4,055 |
47 | Falcon Heights | 5,571 |
48 | Bayport | 3,723 |
49 | Apple Valley | 52,889 |
50 | East Bethel | 11,870 |
51 | Eagan | 66,379 |
52 | Excelsior | 2,434 |
53 | Lake Elmo | 8,969 |
54 | Ramsey | 26,638 |
55 | Oak Grove | 8,682 |
56 | Circle Pines | 4,950 |
57 | Savage | 31,254 |
58 | Corcoran | 5,911 |
59 | Wayzata | 4,561 |
60 | Centerville | 3,985 |
61 | Champlin | 24,755 |
62 | St. Anthony | 9,038 |
63 | Prior Lake | 26,365 |
64 | Eden Prairie | 64,179 |
65 | Mahtomedi | 8,164 |
66 | Rosemount | 24,292 |
67 | Cottage Grove | 36,602 |
68 | St. Louis Park | 48,677 |
69 | Farmington | 22,869 |
70 | Golden Valley | 21,566 |
71 | Afton | 2,999 |
72 | Lakeville | 63,915 |
73 | Shoreview | 26,791 |
74 | Ham Lake | 16,434 |
75 | Mound | 9,480 |
76 | Minnetonka | 53,025 |
77 | Andover | 32,733 |
78 | Hugo | 14,767 |
79 | Grant | 4,100 |
80 | Stillwater | 19,341 |
81 | Elko New Market | 4,657 |
82 | Carver | 4,771 |
83 | Woodbury | 69,906 |
84 | North Hudson | 3,796 |
85 | Orono | 8,113 |
86 | Maple Grove | 70,627 |
87 | Plymouth | 78,134 |
88 | Shorewood | 7,867 |
89 | Rogers | 12,971 |
90 | Mendota Heights | 11,289 |
91 | Lino Lakes | 21,404 |
92 | Edina | 51,746 |
93 | Scandia | 4,112 |
94 | Minnetrista | 7,621 |
95 | Victoria | 9,383 |
96 | Medina | 6,380 |
97 | Chanhassen | 25,657 |
98 | Deephaven | 3,879 |
99 | North Oaks | 5,177 |
Minneapolis isn’t a St Paul suburb and most of what you have listed are Minneapolis suburbs, not St Paul. SMH