Best PlacesWest Side, St. Paul, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Side, St. Paul, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
West Side, St. Paul ranks 2,339th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in West Side, 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.
West Side, St. Paul's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Side, St. Paul ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than 91% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than 85% of neighborhoods
Where West Side, St. Paul ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,682 a month, better than only 14% of neighborhoods
- School gradeC−, better than only 26% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than only 28% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 31% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 33% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in West Side, St. Paul
A household needs to earn about $75,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Side, St. Paul home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,139, 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 West Side, St. Paul's effective rate of 1.21%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in West Side, St. Paul
West Side, St. Paul runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for West Side, St. Paul.
Who works in West Side, St. Paul, and how
Work in West Side, St. Paul centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in West Side, St. Paul
West Side, St. Paul has more parkland per resident than 89% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of West Side, St. Paul and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Side, St. Paul, month by month
West Side, St. Paul sees roughly 128 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 19° | 12° |
| April | 57° | 46° | 37° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 60° | 50° | 43° |
Flying in and out of West Side, St. Paul
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 7 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 West Side, St. Paul
Schools across West Side, St. Paul average a C−, better than 26% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Highland Park ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Quantum Steam Academy ElementaryD− · 15% proficient
- Cherokee Heights Elementary SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Top middle schools
- Heritage E-stem Magnet SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Highland Park Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Hidden River Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Central Senior HighB+ · 56% proficient
- Highland Park Senior HighB · 50% proficient
- Open World Learning SecondaryB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Side, St. Paul school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Side, 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 West Side, St. Paul against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in West Side, St. Paul
Is West Side, St. Paul a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Side, St. Paul ranks 2,339th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on a stable housing market, few empty homes, and fast internet, and lowest on childcare costs and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Side, St. Paul expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $270,594. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $79,139 median income, cost of living beats 61% of neighborhoods.
Is West Side, St. Paul safe?
West Side, St. Paul is safer than 44% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $505 per resident a year.
Compare West Side, St. Paul with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Side, St. Paul. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Side, 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.
West Side, St. Paul detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Side, St. Paul: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Side, St. Paul: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Side, St. Paul: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Side, St. Paul: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Side, 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.