Do You Live In A Minnesota Community That is One Of The Top 100

Although I’ve only been living here for a few months, my wife and I realize Minnesota is a great place to live. And we’re not the only ones to notice, so did AARP.

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They have put out their "Top 100 Communities To Live In" based on their Livability Index. And Minnesota had 16 placed in the Top 100.

The Index breaks down the Cities into 4 Categories:

Very Large- Population over 500,000

Large- Population from 100,000 to 499,999

Mid-Size- 25,000 to 99,999

Small- 24,999 and under

In the Very Large Community Category, Minnesota had 2 of the 25 with Ramsey County at #2 and Hennepin County at #6.

Photo Credit: Google Street View

In the Large Community Category, our state did very well with 6 of the 25 Communities listed. St. Paul is #3, Rochester is #6, Minneapolis is #7. Coming in at #9 is Olmsted County, followed by Carver County at #22 and #25 is Scott County.

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The Mid-Size Category features 4 of the Top 25:

#7- St. Louis Park

#9- Roseville

#11- Prior Lake

#14- Shoreview

Photo Credit: Google Maps

And in the Small Community Division, also 4 from Minnesota are highlighted:

#4- La Crescent

#10- Falcon Heights

#14- St. Anthony

#19 Columbia Heights

Photo Credit: Google Maps

These numbers were reached with AARP’s livability platform which uses a unique data-driven, web-based tool that measures every community and neighborhood in the U.S. for key amenities and services that affect the quality of life in people of all ages in the areas of Housing, Transportation, Social and Civic Engagement, Health, Environment, as well as Educational and Economic Opportunities.

The index used by AARP factors in 50 different sources of data. Some of the livability factors that are considered include monthly housing costs, opportunities for strong social connections, and the presence of age friendly plans that are available. In total, 61 indicators are used to measure each city, town and community.

All in all, Minnesota is shown to be a good place to live, raise a family and enjoy a good quality of life.