Nerdwallet is giving a bit more love to the North Wright County area.
After naming St. Michael the “No. 8 Best City to Raise a Young Family” in Minnesota back in October 2013, the finance blog has picked Otsego as the No. 2 spot to own a home in Minnesota, with St. Michael coming in at No. 5.
Rogers was tops overall in the state.
Here’s what Nerdwallet had to say:
No. 2 – Otsego, located 8 miles north of Rogers, grew 7.9percent from 2010 to 2012. Otsego has the second-highest homeownership rate on our list — 94.3 percent — and the second-lowest median home value on our list at $195,300. Residents spend 28.1percent of their monthly median household income on homeowner costs. Otsego is over 30 miles northwest of the Twin Cities, home of large employers such as the Minnesota state government, Mayo Clinic, Target Corp. and 3M Co.
No. 5 – St. Michael is located 30 miles west of Minneapolis. It is a growing community with a 5.7 percent population increase from 2010 to 2012, and it has a high homeownership rate at 91.4percent. The Crow River flows along the city’s eastern border and separates it from Rogers, which tops our list. The Crow-Hassan Park Reserve, along the banks of the Crow River, is a 2,600-acre park with a 600-acre restored prairie, horseback riding and hiking trails, room to walk your dog and an off-leash exercise area.
The blog uses U.S. Census Data to break down everything from value of home (stretching your dollar), commute, ratio of homeowners to renters, income and other criteria.
According to them, the top 20 had this in common:
- All of the top 20 cities were within commuting distance of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
- 19 of the top 20 cities had homeownership rates above 80%, meaning that the vast majority of homes in these cities are owned, rather than rented.
- In all 20 of the best cities for homeownership in Minnesota, homeowners earning the median income spent less than 30% of their income on their homes, which is the affordability standard set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Only communities with population of more than 10,000 people were included (thus leaving out Albertville).
For more information on these and other places, check out NerdWallet Cities. For a full ranking of all 96 cities analyzed for this study and to download the raw data, click here.