Living in St. Paul, MN

Crime in St. Paul runs a bit below the national average. The violent crime index is 71 (100 is the U.S. baseline), with property crime at 92. That puts it in a decent spot — not the safest metro in the country, but meaningfully better than the midpoint. Neighborhood choice still matters, especially if you have kids or walk home late. FBI Uniform Crime Report data.

By most measures, yes. The median rent of $1,281/month against a median household income of $73,394/year works out to a 20.9% rent-to-income ratio. Financial planners generally want that number under 30%, so St. Paul clears the bar with room to spare. You'll have breathing space for savings, car payments, and the occasional splurge. Numbers from Census ACS 2023.

Most people in St. Paul are at work within 17 minutes — a pretty reasonable commute by American standards. The breakdown: 58.9% drive alone, 5.4% take public transit, and 20.2% work from home. Rush hour adds time, obviously, but the baseline is manageable.

Mixed. The city-wide graduation rate is 82.0% and classrooms average 15 students per teacher. Some schools here are legitimately excellent — strong test scores, engaged communities, good resources. Others struggle. The gap between the best and worst is wider than you might expect. Do your homework on individual schools rather than relying on the city-wide number.

About what you'd expect anywhere. The average monthly utility bill in St. Paul runs around $245 for electricity, gas, water, and sewer combined. The national average is $230, so you're right in line. Your actual bill depends on home size, insulation quality, and how much you run the AC or heater — but no surprises here.

Everything on this page is built from public government sources: rent and income figures from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS 5-Year Estimates, 2023); commute and transportation data from Census ACS tables B08303 and B08006; crime rates from the FBI Uniform Crime Report; school data from the National Center for Education Statistics; utility cost estimates from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. We refresh each dataset monthly through an automated pipeline and cross-check for anomalies. No surveys, no user-submitted guesses — just official federal data presented in a way that's actually useful for people researching a move.