This morning I was reading in RoadSnacks about the 5 worst cities to live in in Minnesota and was kind of surprised at the results of this in depth study of the worst cities to live in in Minnesota.

Get our free mobile app

I automatically assumed that the worst city to live in would be one of the larger ones, but I would be wrong. The results of this study came from several sources including the FBI and census.

Here are the they found to be 5 worst cities to live in in Minnesota;

  • # 5   West St Paul

West St Paul is actually south of St Paul metro. Economy is sluggish to suckish. West St Paul has a high crime rate at about 200% over the national average. Median income is around $56,000 and unemployment is at around 6.3%

  •  #4  Brooklyn Center

Brooklyn Center despite having a good housing market and some other positive attributes, suffers from a high crime rate. Seems this is a trend in most places in close proximity to Minneapolis.

  •  #3  Little Virginia

Not much good to say about this quaint little town. Population at about 8500 and the crime rate is the 25th highest in Minnesota. Houses are cheap, though. Medium house price is a little over $92,000. Might be tough to afford even that with an unemployment rate way above average.

  •  #2  Bemidji

Unfortunately for Bemidji, the crime rate there is the 2nd highest in the state per capita.  If fact, if you were a resident in 2020, you'd have about a 1 in 12 chance being robbed. With a fairly high unemployment rate and low medium income ($32,193) what's to rob?

  •  #1 Waite Park  

I have to admit that I was a bit surprised by this. Years ago I lived in Waite Park for about a year. I had no issues but things have changed there over the years, I guess.

Home values and medium income aren't the greatest, in fact they are pretty low. The big problem with Waite Park, according to RoadSnacks is the crime rate. Waite park has the worst crime rate per capita in Minnesota. 1 in 11.9 residents were a victim of a reported theft last year.

I have to believe that a lot of the crime stats from Waite Park are partly due to the large amount of retail businesses there. I remember a few years ago that there were an inordinate number of car break ins and purse snatchings.

All in all, I don't think Waite Park is as bad as the stats make it look. Good restaurants,  sports bars and retail.  IMO, Waite Park rocks because they have a Taco Johns. It's the little things, right?

See 20 Ways America Has Changed Since 9/11

For those of us who lived through 9/11, the day’s events will forever be emblazoned on our consciousnesses, a terrible tragedy we can’t, and won’t, forget. Now, two decades on, Stacker reflects back on the events of 9/11 and many of the ways the world has changed since then. Using information from news reports, government sources, and research centers, this is a list of 20 aspects of American life that were forever altered by the events of that day. From language to air travel to our handling of immigration and foreign policy, read on to see just how much life in the United States was affected by 9/11.

LOOK: What are the odds that these 50 totally random events will happen to you?

Stacker took the guesswork out of 50 random events to determine just how likely they are to actually happen. They sourced their information from government statistics, scientific articles, and other primary documents. Keep reading to find out why expectant parents shouldn't count on due dates -- and why you should be more worried about dying on your birthday than living to 100 years old.

MORE: Some of the Memes & Tweets That Have Made Us Laugh (and Maybe Think)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More From 96.7 The River