We Now Know the 20 Cheapest Places to Live in Minnesota For 2025

Nowadays, everyone is looking for ways to stretch their dollars, and finding an affordable place to call home is an essential part of that quest.

One of the biggest chunks of most people's budgets goes toward basic and necessary living expenses. For this list of the cheapest places to live in Minnesota, using EPI data, we focused solely on the seven main areas of expense individuals and families face:

• Housing
• Food
• Child Care
• Transportation
• Health Care
• Other Necessities
• Taxes

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How Much Does It Cost To Live in Minnesota?

Living expenses vary quite a bit depending on location. Still, according to MIT's living wage calculator, the statewide average annual cost for a family of four with two working parents is $108,327 (up from  $106,353 in 2024). The living hourly wage for a family of four in Minnesota is now $30.20 (up from $29.42 in 2024) per working parent -- a combined annual salary of $125,618 (up from $122,387 in 2024).

Minnesota's Total Living Expense Compared to the Rest of the Country

The most recent data shows the average annual expense for a family of 4 in the United States is around $101,514, which means the cost to live in Minnesota is 6.71 percent higher than the national average. As a whole, Minnesota now ranks 30th in the country for affordability, according to US News.

What is the Total Living Expense in Major Minnesota Metro Areas?

Before we get into the list of places with the lowest total living expenses in Minnesota, let's take a quick look at the average total annual expense for a family of four in some of the bigger metro areas of the North Star State:

• Twin Cities metro: $127,391 (up from $119,229 in 2024)
• Rochester metro: $126,858 (up from $123,640 in 2024)
• Duluth metro: $103,625 (up from $101,940 in 2024)
• St. Cloud metro: $117,247 (up from $99,166 in 2024)
• Mankato metro: $105,867 (up from $103,886 in 2024)

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