Minnesota has many, many lakes. This is no surprise. In fact, we were basically born with this knowledge burned into our minds. It's true; our lakes tie deeply into our Minnesotan pride.

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So, it hurts my heart to say only two Minnesota towns made the list of best lake towns in the United States.

Naturally, Duluth Made The List, But Only At #16.

Andrew Ling, Unsplash
Andrew Ling, Unsplash
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The North Shore as a whole is wonderful. I can't believe other towns, such as Grand Marais, didn't break the top 40!

More Shockingly (In My Opinion) Is Eden Prairie At #12.

I guess Eden Prairie is surrounded by numerous lakes. From Bryant to Riley and Rice to Red Rock and Staring, the lakes do seem endless. However, when I think of Eden Prairie, lakes aren't usually the first things that come to mind.

So, I know what you're thinking.

Who Made Up This 'Baloney' (And Wildly Offensive) Information?

WalletHub created this list of 46 lake towns last June after evaluating six factors: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education, and health.

Duluth's Results

- Total score: 53.4

- Affordability rank: #33

- Weather rank: #13

- Safety rank: #26

- Economy rank: #22

- Education & health rank: #15

- Quality of life rank: #10

Eden Prairie's Results

- Total score: 55.3

- Affordability rank: #17

- Weather rank: #9

- Safety rank: #16

- Economy rank: #8

- Education & health rank: #5

- Quality of life rank: #24

Unfortunately, Wisconsin performed a lot better than us in terms of lake towns. Keep scrolling to see what neighboring cities nudged us off the rest of the list.

LOOK: Here are the best lake towns to live in

Many of the included towns jump out at the casual observer as popular summer-rental spots--the Ozarks' Branson, Missouri, or Arizona's Lake Havasu--it might surprise you to dive deeper into some quality-of-life offerings beyond the beach and vacation homes. You'll likely pick up some knowledge from a wide range of Americana: one of the last remaining 1950s-style drive-ins in the Midwest; a Florida town that started as a Civil War veteran retirement area; an island boasting some of the country's top public schools and wealth-earners right in the middle of a lake between Seattle and Bellevue; and even a California town containing much more than Johnny Cash's prison blues.

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