Minnesota staff writer for Only in Your State and owner of Minnesota blog NorthGuide.co, I'm a Minneapolis transplant who loves my cats, camera, and local coffee. On the weekends I'm usually exploring the North Shore or making my way through the list of Minnesota's State Parks. Want to talk about MN or ask me a question? Tweet me @sotafiedjo!
Minnesota is generally full of pretty happy, sometimes slightly frozen, residents. In fact, last year WalletHub called us the 2nd happiest state in the country! But there are of course places where more of the population just seems to have reasons to smile, and where the sun seems to shine a little brighter on the whole of the city. These 15 cities were named happiest in MN by RoadSnacks based on percentage of residents with a college degree, percent married, percent home owners, poverty rates, commute times, unemployment rates, and costs of living. From 15 to 1, here they are:
Waconia is the 10th happiest city, and was also named the 12th best place to raise a family last year due to their good schools, housing prices, and income growth potential.
Victoria is full of happy people, who earned an average household income of $81,476 earning them another title as well - 7th richest in MN. The schools and the views sure add to those smiles though!
Chanhassen is the 8th happiest city, but that's just one of this city's impressive list of accomplishments this year. They were named best overall city in MN (#7 in the entire nation!), 6th richest in MN, and have the 9th best schools in the state as well.
Hanover is the smallest city on our list, and it's nearly 3,000 residents are as happy as can be to live in a quiet and beautiful area that's still close to the metro!
Shorewood comes in 6th place with plenty of happiness to spread around. Due to its location on Lake Minnetonka, Shorewood has also been voted one of MN's prettiest cities - which could be the reason for all those smiles!
Lake Elmo comes in 5th and this could be partially due the stable financial standing of its residents. It made 13th richest MN city last year with an average household income of $78,653. RoadSnacks also named them snobbiest city in MN last year, but they're just too darn happy to care.
The runner-up for happiest cities, Kasson was also the runner-up in our list of safest places to live. Seems like Kasson might just be on it's way to the best place to live in the entire state, watch out Chanhassen!
And finally, the happiest city in all of MN! In Mendota Heights the majority of people own their own homes, have secure jobs and decent living costs, and stay married. It's a happy place and wonderful place to raise a family!
Did your city make the list? If not, check the full rankings here, and share your city’s ranking in the comments!
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