Making a Move? Most Affordable Towns to Live in Minnesota

Moving. For the most part it really does kind of stink. I have moved so much in my life, I get to the point where I think it might be better to just own blow up furniture and be completely portable.  At one point in my career, I moved everything I owned in a Honda Civic.  Yep - a Honda Civic. Full disclosure, it did take me a couple of trips, and I did have a friend that had a truck that hauled my full size mattress.  But that was all - everything else in the Civic.  That's portable.

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That is no longer the case!

Since I have lived in several places, I have noticed a very different cost of living that really does vary from town to town all within the midwest.

There was a study done on affordable places to live in Minnesota. From my own experience, one of these towns was not affordable at all.  In fact, it was rather expensive, at least when referring to the rent cost.

That town was/is Rochester, Minnesota.  I lived there for 2 years, and our rent was a bit up there.  But maybe it was the place where we chose to live.  We did eventually purchase a house there too, and that wasn't cheap either.  But again, maybe it was the area??

But here is the list from Redfin, and based off of median home prices from this past year.  So, it is a fairly recent study.

Surprisingly, St. Cloud came in at number 1 - the most affordable city to live in is St. Cloud.  Wow.  Median home price in St  Cloud is $250,000.

Median home price: $250,000
Average sale price per square foot: $134
Average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment: $739
Median household income: $50,335
Nearest major metro: Minneapolis (70 miles)

St. Paul came in at number 2.

Median home price: $300,525
Average sale price per square foot: $207
Average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment: $1,307
Median household income: $59,717
Nearest major metro: Minneapolis (12 miles)

Number 3 is Duluth.

Median home price: $312,700
Average sale price per square foot: $171
Average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment: $1,495
Median household income: $54,084
Nearest major metro: Minneapolis (155 miles)

Number 4 is Rochester, and as mentioned above, not my experience.

Median home price: $314,250
Average sale price per square foot: $169
Average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment: $1,488
Median household income: $59,717
Nearest major metro: St. Paul (80 miles)

Coon Rapids came in at number 5.

Median home price: $335,750
Average sale price per square foot: $188
Average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment: $1,536
Median household income: $59,717
Nearest major metro: Minneapolis (16 miles)

Minneapolis came in at number 6.  REALLY??

Median home price: $339,900
Average sale price per square foot: $217
Average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment: $1,476
Median household income: $66,068

Booklyn Park made the list at number 5

Median home price: $345,000
Average sale price per square foot: $172
Average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment: $1,585
Median household income: $73,207
Nearest major metro: Minneapolis (11 miles)

And rounding out the top 8 most affordable places to live in Minnesota is Burnsville.

Median home price: $350,500
Average sale price per square foot: $180
Average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment: $1,085
Median household income: $76,017
Nearest major metro: Minneapolis (17 miles)

Not sure I agree with this list... and are they just looking at cities (they just said places)?  Because I think we can all agree that there are much more affordable places to live in Minnesota outside of the city and in a more rural area.