Minnesota's wealthiest cities according to the latest census data

The Lake Minnetonka neighborhood is populated by some of Minnesota's wealthiest cities. Minnesota is a state teeming with natural beauty, gorgeous lakes, and charming towns. We recently conducted research analyzing various American states and identified the wealthiest cities in them. We've recently covered several Midwestern states, including the wealthiest cities in Illinois, Michigan, Missouri and Ohio. Now it's Minnesota's turn.

We analyzed more than 900 cities in the state to determine Minnesota's wealthiest cities. The method by which we scored and ranked each city is detailed below. Read on to find out which city in Minnesota is the wealthiest, as well as the top 50 wealthiest cities in the state.

To compile our list of the wealthiest cities in Minnesota, we used critical financial data from the 2022 U.S. Census. With this data in mind, we developed a scoring system for four factors to identify Minnesota's wealthiest cities: median household income, median home value, median property taxes paid, and median household income.

It's important to note that for some Census factors, there are upper limits and therefore no exact figure. For example, for median household income, the census upper limit is "$250,000+" and for median home value is "$2,000,000+". Therefore, data on median household income is crucial because the Census has accurate figures for this indicator. All four of these metrics were scored, summed and then ranked by the cities' total scores.

The top 50 wealthiest cities in Minnesota

The richest city in Minnesota according to our ranking is Minnetonka Beach, a city with a total of 184 households. As its name suggests, Minnetonka Beach is located on the shores of Lake Minnetonka. It is an extraordinarily beautiful place, especially in the summer. With a median household income of $246,250, Minnetonka Beach leads Minnesota in median household income, tied with the City of Sunfish Lake. The median household income in Minnetonka Beach is $351,598, which is the second highest in the state.

The second wealthiest city in Minnesota is Sunfish Lake, a wealthy suburb of Minneapolis. Like Minnetonka Beach, the median household income in Sunfish Lake is $246,250. Meanwhile, the median household income is slightly lower than Minnetonka Beach at $340,480, making it the fourth highest in Minnesota. In terms of housing costs, the median home value in Sunfish Lake is $986,400, which is the second highest in Minnesota. In terms of employment in Sunfish Lake, managerial positions dominate the workforce, accounting for 26% of the labor force, according to Data USA. As for the major employment sectors in Sunfish Lake, here they include Health Care and Social Services (21.3% of the labor force), Professional, Scientific and Technical Services (12% of the labor force) and Retail Trade (8.91% of the labor force).

The third wealthiest city in Minnesota is Woodland, located on Lake Minnetonka. It is a small community of 213 households. The three largest occupation groups, according to Data USA, include Sales and Related Occupations (29.5% of the labor force), Management Occupations (27.4% of the labor force), and Business and Financial Operations (13.7% of the labor force). The major employment sectors in The Woodlands include Manufacturing (25.2% of the labor force), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (15% of the labor force), and Real Estate and Rental (12.4% of the labor force). The median household income in Woodland is $193,125, which is the fifth highest in Minnesota. However, the median household income in Woodland is $363,129, making it the highest in the state. It is reported that the median home value in Woodland is $965,300, which is the fourth highest in the state. Not coincidentally, average property taxes paid in The Woodlands exceed $10,000 per year.