The Best – and Worst – Small Minnesota Cities, Ranked

Enough with the big cities and how great they are/burned down to the ground and never rebuilt they are. Let's get a bit smaller than that; where there's the amenities of big cities, without a big chunk of the big city B.S. That's right: we're ranking small cities!

Not small towns, because they tend to rule. Today's ranking limits "small" cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000. That...seems like a lot of people, but whatever TO THE RANKS!

The Best 'Small' Cities in Minnesota

The findings are based on 45 'key indicators of livability'. Oxygen? Well, no. Housing costs, quality of schools, number of restaurants per capita (seriously), etc.

#1: Woodbury

Almost the Village of Washington with Cottage Grove, Woodbury is the 64th-most affordable small city in the country, and ranks 30th in safety. It's home to the star of season 18 of The Bachelorette, Michelle Young.

#2: Savage

Either named after an entrepreneur, a horse, or a pro wrestler; Savage was the landing point for Irish and Scottish immigrants in 1800. It's home to the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge and Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve, and ranks 29th in the country in Affordability and 67th in Safety.

#3: Lakeville

A city of lakes?! This small Minnesota city is the largest city in Dakota County with 69,490 residents, and the 7th-most affordable 'small' city in the country. It even has a livecam on the Casperson Park Boat Launch.

#4: Cottage Grove

The hometown of Stifler (actor Seann William Scott) from American Pie, the small city of 41,033 hosts Strawberry Fest every year. It's 22nd in the country in Affordability and 8th in Safety (among small cities).

The Worst 'Small' Cities in Minnesota

WalletHub ranked cities by 'percentile', with larger numbers being better. They went all the way down to one - which is the worst - and none of Minnesota's 'small' cities scored lower than 43 (below average, but far from the worst). The bottom four from 'worst' to 'worstest':

#4: Fridley

Named after Abram M. Fridley, who oddly looks exactly how I pictured him, Fridley is home to the Minnesota Municipal Beverage Association headquarters as well as the  world headquarters of the largest medical device company in the world (as of 2017): Medtronic plc. Fridley was hit by TWO F4 tornadoes on May 6th, 1965. Fridley ranks 1073rd out of approximately 1300 small cities in the country for Quality of Life and 786th in Safety (but is still in the 51st percentile among small cities in the country)

#3: Shoreview

Way back in 2008, Shoreview ranked fourth in a Family Circle list of best family towns. Now it's crammed with the majority of the Twin Cities' FM and TV broadcast transmitters and antennae. It's ranked 1141st in Economic health and 1191st in Quality of Life. On the plus side, Shoreview is the home of Cleveland Guardians reliever Sam Hentges (currently on the injured list after an outstanding first half of the 2024 season).

#2: St. Cloud

Wuuuuhhh? The Granite City gets no love from WalletHub. The STC ranks 807th in Economic Health, 730rd in Safety, 699th in Affordability, and 693rd in Quality of Life. But we have Munsinger Gardens and great hockey, so PPPPPPBBBBBTH.

#1: Brooklyn Center

1223rd in Quality of Life, 738th in Safety, and 732nd in Economic Health. But it's also the hometown of the guy who directed Joe Dirt (Dennie Gordon), so there's that.

H/T: WalletHub

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