Best PlacesSouth St. Paul, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South St. Paul, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
South St. Paul ranks 7,005th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in South St. Paul
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
South St. Paul's strengths and weaknesses
Where South St. Paul ranks high
- TransitBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of towns
- BikingBetter than 98% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 95% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of towns
Where South St. Paul ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,682 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 2% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South St. Paul
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South St. Paul home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,978, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses South St. Paul's effective rate of 1.15%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in South St. Paul
South St. Paul's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for South St. Paul.
Who works in South St. Paul, and how
Work in South St. Paul centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in South St. Paul
South St. Paul has more parkland per resident than 93% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of South St. Paul and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in South St. Paul, month by month
South St. Paul sees roughly 98 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 19° | 13° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 37° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 60° | 50° | 43° |
Flying in and out of South St. Paul
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 9 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 17.5 million passengers in 2025, with 195 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around South St. Paul
Schools across South St. Paul average a C, better than 34% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Atheneum ElementaryA+ · 93% proficient
- Garlough Environmental MagnetB− · 43% proficient
- Lincoln Center ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Friendly Hills MiddleB · 43% proficient
- Heritage E-stem Magnet SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Inver Grove Heights MiddleD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Two Rivers High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Simley Senior HighB− · 45% proficient
- South St. Paul High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South St. Paul school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South St. Paul measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare South St. Paul against the other 50,332 towns.
Who South St. Paul suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 79% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 67% of towns and health care access beats 55%.
Common questions about living in South St. Paul
Is South St. Paul a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South St. Paul ranks 7,005th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, walkability, and biking, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is South St. Paul expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $281,618. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $88,978 median income, cost of living beats 79% of towns.
Is South St. Paul safe?
South St. Paul is safer than 55% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $295 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in South St. Paul?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 26 with lows near 13. That works out to about 98 pleasant days a year, more than 67% of towns.
Is South St. Paul good for families?
Schools beat 34% of towns, crime safety beats 55%, and childcare runs $1,682 a month.
Compare South St. Paul with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South St. Paul. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South St. Paul represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
South St. Paul detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South St. Paul: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South St. Paul: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South St. Paul: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South St. Paul: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South St. Paul detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.