One Minnesota's Most Affordable Cities is 40 Miles From Rochester

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If you're looking to save some money, you might want to consider moving to one of Minnesota's 10 Most Affordable Cities-- one is located just 40 miles from Rochester.

One of the enduring phenomenons brought about by the pandemic has been the ability of many of us to do our jobs from home. So if you can work remotely, and you want to save some money, perhaps moving to one of the 10 Most Affordable Cities in Minnesota is something to consider.

The website SmartAsset just compiled the list of Most Affordable Cities in Minnesota for 2021. It looked at several different categories to rank Minnesota's municipalities by affordability, including taxes, homeowners' insurance, mortgage, and other home costs relative to the local median income. The most affordable cities on the list were places where the cost of buying a home was lowest compared to the city's local median income.

Do You Live in One of Rochester's 10 Richest Neighborhoods?

So what was the Most Affordable City in Minnesota for 2021? (And, no, Rochester didn't make the list this year.) That would be Montevideo, west of the Twin Cities (about 3 and a half hours northwest of Rochester.)

But there WAS one city just 40 miles away from Rochester that landed at #6 on the list: The city of Austin. SmartAsset said Austin's median income of $48,147 and its relatively low annual property taxes ($1,031) combined to give it an affordability score of 49.41.

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Meanwhile, if Austin doesn't trip your trigger, nearby Albert Lea (about 62 miles southwest of Rochester) was also listed as one of the most affordable cities in Minnesota, coming in at #9 on the list this year. Here's the entire list:

Minnesota's 10 Most Affordable Cities for 2021 (according to SmartAsset)

1) Montevideo
2) Red Wood Falls
3) International Falls
4) Otsego
5) Hibbing
6) Austin
7) St. Michael
8) Virginia
9) Albert Lea
10) Litchfield

On the other hand, if you want to see how the other half lives, keep scrolling to see inside the most expensive home in Rochester's richest neighborhood!

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This is the Most Expensive Home for Sale in Rochester's Richest Neighborhood

Based on data from Neighborhood Scout, we were able to figure out Rochester's richest neighborhood, which is 40th St SW / Bamber Valley Rd SW. After a search on Zillow, I found plenty of expensive homes for sale in that area. Full disclosure, this home we're going to look at isn't technically the most expensive, it's the third most expensive. However, it's the most expensive home in the neighborhood that's currently standing, the other two haven't even been built yet.

Source: One Minnesota’s Most Affordable Cities is 40 Miles From Rochester

Filed Under: affordable housing, minnesota, rochester

Categories: Lifestyle