Loading
Assembling your view…
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
The remote work era changed the math: earn a tech salary, live in an affordable market. We analyzed 2 cities across Minnesota for that equation. St Paul — cost index 97, utilities 89, rent $1,485/mo — leads.
#1 Ranked: St Paul — cost index 97, rent $1,485/mo, income $73,055
St Paul rent up 3% over the past year
Remote-worker scoring: cost index 97, utilities index 89, income $73,055 — maximizing geographic arbitrage
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
The remote work era changed the math: earn a tech salary, live in an affordable market. We analyzed 2 cities across Minnesota for that equation. St Paul — cost index 97, utilities 89, rent $1,485/mo — leads.
Dive into St Paul's numbers: cost index 97 — for better or worse — (15 points below national average), rent $1,485/month, income $73,055, and a home price of $289,137. The city's cost profile isn't flat — Utilities is the cheapest category at 89, while Healthcare runs 100. With 303,820 residents, it balances mid-size city convenience with manageable costs (which, to be fair, is a metric that favors smaller cities).
Remote workers profit from geographic arbitrage. Our model scores cost index (20pts), local income as a proxy for economic infrastructure (15pts), and utility costs (10pts) — because when your living room is your office, reliable affordable internet and power matter. St Paul scores highest with a 97 cost index and 89 utilities index. Minneapolis offers a different cost profile (not adjusted for inflation, but still telling).
St Paul rent up 3% over the past year. Rent in #1-ranked St Paul has increased from $1,443 — and yes, that's adjusted for the region — to $1,485/mo over the past 12 months — a 3% increase. Rising costs may erode its top ranking over time.
It's a strong position — but not without footnotes. Across Minnesota, the average cost of living index is 99 — 13 points below the national median. Known for Twin Cities prosperity, outstate thrift, the state offers 2 tracked cities with median rents averaging $1,562/month. That's $333 less than the national average of $1,895. That level of affordability is getting rarer every year.
What to do with this data: use the ranking as a shortlist, then dig into the city profiles for trend lines and category breakdowns. The difference between #1 and #5 is often smaller than the difference between "good on paper" and "actually fits my life." Compare your top picks with our calculator to see real take-home numbers.
| Rank | City | Cost Index | Median Rent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St Paul | 97 | $1,485 | Details |
| 2 | Minneapolis | 101 | $1,638 | Details |
303,820 residents · Minnesota
The #1 spot goes to St Paul, and the breakdown explains why. Renters here pay $1,485/month — saving renters $4,920 per year compared to the national average. Meanwhile, Utilities is the standout at index 89, making it one of the cheapest in the country for that category. The weak spot? Healthcare at 100. At a 24% rent-to-income ratio, there's genuine breathing room in the average household budget.
425,115 residents · Minnesota
Why Minneapolis ranks #2: the numbers tell a clear story. At 101 on the cost index, residents save roughly 11% less than the typical American. Rent sits at $1,638/month while the median household pulls in $80,269/year. The Utilities category is particularly strong at 93, though Healthcare (104) lags behind. Home prices average $327,043 — $140,327 below the national median.
St Paul ranks #1 in Minnesota for this analysis with a cost index of 97 and median income of $73,055.
St Paul scores highest for remote workers due to its below-average cost of living, median rent of $1,485/mo, and competitive median income of $73,055.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
St Paul (ranked #1) has a cost index of 97 and rent of $1,485/mo, while Minneapolis (ranked #2) has a cost index of 101 and rent of $1,638/mo — a 4-point difference in cost of living.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in St Paul is $1,485/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $410 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in St Paul is $289,137, which is 4.0× the local median income. It's on the edge of affordability for median-income households. The national median home price is $467,370.
Minnesota has a 9.85% state income tax rate. Combined state and local sales tax averages 7.545%, and the effective property tax rate is 1.02%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.