Minnesota’s Best City To Live In

MINNESOTA — The best city to live in Minnesota is apparently New Ulm in Brown County. That’s according to a new report from the financial news and opinion site 24/7 Wall St., which determined the best city to live in every state.

The authors acknowledged that while many things factor into what makes a place “home,” some specific attributes are commonly shared and “universally desirable.” These include essentials like safe streets, a strong local economy, affordability and diverse entertainment options.

Here’s a breakdown of New Ulm:

• Population: 13,279
• 5 yr. population change: -1.6 percent
• Median home value: $133,100
• Median household income: $52,244

Here’s what the authors had to say:

“Residents of New Ulm, Minnesota, are more likely to work and be financially secure, on average, than most other Americans. The town’s poverty rate of 8.5% is well below the national poverty rate of 15.1%. Also, the town’s five-year average unemployment rate of 2.6% is 4.8 percentage points below the comparable nationwide rate.”

“These numbers are better than the comparable national figures despite the fact that New Ulm residents tend to not be especially wealthy. The town’s median household income of $52,244 a year is several thousand dollars lower than the U.S. median household income. Unlike almost all other places on this list, New Ulm’s population shrank over the past five years. During a time when the U.S. population grew 3.9%, New Ulm’s population dropped 1.6%.”

Most of the best cities to live in were relatively affluent. That includes Paradise Valley, dubbed the best place to live in Arizona, where the median home value is north of $1.3 million — more than seven times the national median. The median household in the town earns an income of $173,487.

To identify the best cities to live in, the researchers created a weighted index of more than two dozen measures in four categories: affordability, economy, quality of life and community. Some of the measures include ratio of median home value to median income, cost of living, unemployment rate, poverty rate, food insecurity rate, death rate and violent crime rate.

But several cities and towns were much more modest.

Batesville, Arkansas, was highlighted specifically because it’s so affordable and has various attractions and amenities. The median household in the city earns $42,143 a year, while the median home is worth $120,400.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

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