Best places to live in Minnesota: U.S. News ranks 8 cities in 2026 list

Twin Cities real estate: Latest trends

The Twin Cities housing market has been on a hot streak with some homes seeing bidding wars above the asking price, but it could be showing signs of slowing down. FOX 9’s Soyoung Kim spoke with area realtors and breaks down the latest numbers.

(FOX 9) - Minnesota cities slipped in the latest U.S. News & World Report’s annual ranking of the best places to live, with fewer making the list and all of them dropping in position.

Minnesota’s best places to live in 2026

What we know:

According to the latest list, Minnesota has eight cities placing this year – down from 10 last year, and each placing lower in ranking than the year before.

Plymouth leads the state at 31st, down from 17th in 2025.

The list also saw Bloomington and Duluth drop off entirely, joining Twin Cities Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Most Minnesota entries are Twin Cities suburbs, with exceptions in Rochester and Mankato.

Dig deeper:

This year’s Minnesota cities that were ranked include:

• Plymouth: 31st (was 17th in 2025)
• Maple Grove: 54th (40th)
• Eden Prairie: 81st (46th)
• Woodbury: 112th (54th)
• Eagan: 134th (116th)
• Rochester: 138th (72nd)
• Blaine: 198th (188th)
• Mankato: 209th (118th)

Big picture view:

Larger cities across the U.S. didn’t fare as well as smaller towns, with only 10 of the top 100 having a population over 200,000.

The trend reflects a national pattern where smaller and mid-sized cities tend to score higher than large urban areas.

The state of Twin Cities real estate

Twin Cities home prices saw their biggest annual drop in more than 14 years last month as the local housing market continues to shift. Kris Lindahl joins us to break down what’s behind the slowdown, why homes are sitting longer on the market, and whether buyers are finally starting to gain some negotiating power.

How the rankings are determined

The backstory:

U.S. News says it uses data from Applied Geographic Solutions, the U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce and other sources to create the rankings.

The report combines five main indexes: quality of life, value, desirability, job market and net migration.

Quality of life includes factors like education, healthcare, air quality and infrastructure.

Value looks at housing affordability and cost of living, while desirability considers crime rates, weather, culture and leisure activities.

The job market index factors in unemployment and median household income, while net migration measures whether people are moving to or away from a city.