Minneapolis composite
48.0 /100
Grade D · weighted across 7 dims
2026 data Public-data reference. 11 dimensions compared
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI vs St. Cloud, MN
Side-by-side comparison across cost of living, rent, wages, crime, schools, childcare, and environment — sourced entirely from U.S. federal data, no crowdsourced estimates.
Minneapolis vs St. Cloud: composite livability scores
Minneapolis and St. Cloud differ across eleven dimensions of livability. Minneapolis has a cost-of-living index of 104.8 vs St. Cloud's 87.6 (national average = 100). A 2-bedroom averages $1,709/mo vs $1,206/mo.
Reading the Minneapolis vs St. Cloud Comparison
Minneapolis (MN) and St. Cloud (MN) are assembled here from the same federal data pipeline — BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, FBI Uniform Crime Reports, NCES public-school counts, and EPA environmental indicators — so every number on this page is directly comparable. The overall cost index reads 104.8 for Minneapolis against 87.6 for St. Cloud, a 17.2-point gap on a scale where 100 equals the U.S. average. HUD's 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent — the figure used to set housing-choice voucher payment standards — is $1,709/mo in Minneapolis and $1,206/mo in St. Cloud, a $503/mo difference that compounds to $6,036 over a year.
Wage data is reported by metro delineation, and one of these metros is missing a BLS record for the latest OES cycle; the salary columns below fall back to available years. State-level violent crime, the most reliable geographic tier FBI UCR publishes, is 259.4 per 100,000 residents in MN vs 259.4 in MN, with property-crime rates of 1624.6 and 1624.6 respectively.
Schools are reported at the state tier by NCES: MN lists 2,391 public schools at a 15.9:1 student-teacher ratio, while MN lists 2,391 schools at 15.9:1 — a signal of class-size staffing, though individual district and school-level variation within each state is substantial. Department of Labor center-based infant care runs $11,722/yr in the Minneapolis area versus $11,722/yr in St. Cloud — a line item that shifts the real cost-of-living picture for households with children under five far more than headline RPP does. When these pieces are read together rather than in isolation, Minneapolis and St. Cloud are not simply "cheaper" or "more expensive" — they trade across dimensions, and which metro wins depends on whether your household optimizes for rent, wages, schools, childcare, safety, or environment. Treat the tables below as inputs to that trade-off, not as a single ranking.
St. Cloud composite
69.5 /100
Grade C+ · weighted across 7 dims
Cost-of-living gap
17.2 pts
Minneapolis vs St. Cloud BEA RPP
2-bed rent delta
$503 /mo
Minneapolis priced higher
Composite life score on the national 0–100 scale
Minneapolis
Minneapolis composite (Grade D)
St. Cloud
St. Cloud composite (Grade C+)
Composite is a weighted roll-up of seven dimensions: cost (20%), wages (20%), rent (15%), safety (15%), schools (10%), childcare (10%), environment (10%). Each input normalized to a 0–100 percentile across all metros.
💰 Cost of Living PlainCost →
| Category | Minneapolis | St. Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Overall RPP | 104.8 | 87.6 |
| Goods | 103.1 | 95.4 |
| Services | 93.5 | 88.7 |
| Rents | 111.8 | 65.1 |
Salary Equivalent Calculator
What salary in St. Cloud gives the same purchasing power as your salary in Minneapolis?
$
Equivalent in St. Cloud:
$83,601
Based on BEA Regional Price Parities (Minneapolis: 104.8, St. Cloud: 87.6, national avg = 100).
🏠 Rent (Fair Market Rent) PlainRent →
| Bedrooms | Minneapolis | St. Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $1,242/mo | $874/mo |
| 1 Bedroom | $1,405/mo | $919/mo |
| 2 Bedroom | $1,709/mo | $1,206/mo |
| 3 Bedroom | $2,262/mo | $1,604/mo |
| 4 Bedroom | $2,531/mo | $1,873/mo |
🛡️ Crime Rates (state-level) PlainCrime →
| Crime Type (per 100K) | Minneapolis (MN) | St. Cloud (MN) |
|---|---|---|
| Violent Crime | 259.4 | 259.4 |
| Property Crime | 1624.6 | 1624.6 |
🎓 Schools (state-level) PlainSchools →
| Metric | MN | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Total Schools | 2,391 | 2,391 |
| Student-Teacher Ratio | 15.9:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Charter Schools | 11.9% | 11.9% |
👶 Childcare Costs (Annual Avg) (state-level) PlainChildcare →
| Age Group | MN | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Infant (Center) | $11,722/yr | $11,722/yr |
| Toddler (Center) | $10,737/yr | $10,737/yr |
| Preschool (Center) | $9,850/yr | $9,850/yr |
🌿 Environment (state-level) PlainEnviro →
| Metric | MN | MN |
|---|---|---|
| EPA Facilities | 592 | 592 |
| Water Systems | 993 | 993 |
| Superfund Sites | 49 | 49 |
| Water Violations | 845 | 845 |
Government-verified data — Air quality (EPA AQS), water safety (EPA SDWIS), healthcare access (HRSA), and disaster risk (FEMA NRI) are sourced directly from U.S. federal agencies. No crowdsourced estimates.
💨 Air Quality (EPA AQS) PlainAir →
| Metric | Minneapolis | St. Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Median AQI | 47.0 | 39.0 |
| Good Air Days | 56.8% | 77.0% |
| Unhealthy Air Days | 6 days | 0 days |
💧 Water Safety (EPA SDWIS, state-level) PlainWater →
| Metric | MN | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Water Safety Score | 62/100 | 62/100 |
| Total Violations | 59,895 | 59,895 |
| Health-Based Violations | 36,496 | 36,496 |
| Systems with Violations | 51.6% | 51.6% |
🏥 Healthcare Access (HRSA, state-level) PlainHealthAccess →
| Metric | MN | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Access Score | 0/100 | 0/100 |
| Population in Shortage Area | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| HPSA Designations | 476 | 476 |
HPSA = Health Professional Shortage Area, designated by HRSA. Higher access score = better healthcare availability.
⚠️ Natural Disaster Risk (FEMA NRI, state-level) PlainHazard →
| Metric | MN | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Disaster Safety Score | 73/100 | 73/100 |
| NRI Risk Score (avg county) | 42.4 | 42.4 |
| Expected Annual Loss Score | 49.1 | 49.1 |
FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) scores are county-level percentiles (0–100). Higher disaster safety score = lower relative risk. State-level values are county averages.
Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level. Metro-specific data for these dimensions is not available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Minneapolis more expensive than St. Cloud? ▼
Minneapolis has a cost of living index of 104.8 compared to St. Cloud's 87.6 (national average = 100). Minneapolis is 17.2 points above St. Cloud on the BEA Regional Price Parity scale.
What is the rent difference between Minneapolis and St. Cloud? ▼
A 2-bedroom apartment averages $1,709/mo in Minneapolis vs $1,206/mo in St. Cloud, based on HUD Fair Market Rent data. Studios range from $1,242/mo to $874/mo.
How do salaries compare between Minneapolis and St. Cloud? ▼
Wage data is not available for one or both metros.
Is Minneapolis or St. Cloud safer? ▼
At the state level, MN has a violent crime rate of 259.4 per 100,000 residents compared to MN's 259.4 per 100,000. Property crime rates are 1624.6 vs 1624.6 per 100,000 respectively, based on FBI Uniform Crime Report data.
How do schools compare between Minneapolis and St. Cloud? ▼
MN has 2,391 public schools with an average student-teacher ratio of 15.9:1, while MN has 2,391 schools at 15.9:1. Charter schools make up 11.9% of MN schools vs 11.9% in MN. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Where does the comparison data come from? ▼
All data comes from official U.S. government sources: Bureau of Economic Analysis (cost of living), HUD (fair market rents), BLS (wages), FBI UCR (crime), NCES (schools), Department of Labor (childcare), EPA (environment, air quality, water safety), HRSA (healthcare access), and FEMA NRI (disaster risk). No crowdsourced estimates or proprietary ratings are used.
Research Guides
Explore Further
Minneapolis Cost of Living
BEA Regional Price Parity breakdown
St. Cloud Cost of Living
BEA Regional Price Parity breakdown
Minneapolis Rent Data
HUD Fair Market Rents by bedroom
St. Cloud Rent Data
HUD Fair Market Rents by bedroom
Minneapolis Schools
NCES school profiles and demographics
St. Cloud Schools
NCES school profiles and demographics
MN Crime Data
FBI UCR crime statistics
MN Crime Data
FBI UCR crime statistics
Relocate Minneapolis to St. Cloud
7-dimension relocation intelligence
Relocate St. Cloud to Minneapolis
7-dimension relocation intelligence
Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, EPA AQS, EPA SDWIS, HRSA, and FEMA NRI. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.
Related
Data sourced from official U.S. government datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial