St. Paul, MN — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·Minnesota·St. Paul

Ramsey County · Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington · population 307,465

First-time buyersBig-city amenities
St. Paul, MN
Image: Wikipedia · Saint Paul, Minnesota
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
View watchlist →
58
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where St. Paul stands

At or near all-time high.

Median home $297,021
1-year +0.9%
5-yr CAGR +2.1%
vs 5-yr peak -0.2%
Population -0.3%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2026-03$297k$172k$218k$263k$309k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
64/100
Somewhat walkable
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
58/100
Some transit
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
82/100
Excellent for remote work
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent trajectory · last 5 years

Zillow ZORI · monthly
$1,464/mo$1,192$1,373$1,554202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent111116100120202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 16.9
Lean buy

At a 16.9 price-to-rent ratio, St. Paul is in the 'depends on horizon' zone. Buy if you'll be there 5+ years and value flexibility on the home; rent if you might move, want zero maintenance friction, or expect rates to drop.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
55 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
48 · w22%
Distance from peak
89 · w18%
Population growth
40 · w16%
Rent YoY
63 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
60 · w10%
Long thesis

St. Paul has held up across the cycle: home values at $297,021 with +2.1% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

St. Paul's bear case is the boring one: the cycle is real and any market that's run hard can stall. Watch for slowing population growth, rising days-on-market, or builder discounts as the early warning signals.

About St. Paul

St. Paul is a city in Ramsey County, Minnesota, with an estimated population of 307,465. It anchors the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington metro area. The median home value in St. Paul is $297,021 as of 2026-04, up 0.9% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +2.1% annual growth, with prices at or near the 5-year peak. Rents in St. Paul average $1,464 per month, roughly flat year-over-year (+2.7%). The composite momentum score is 58 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

▲ Bull case

●Held the highs: currently -0.2% from the 5-year peak — this market refused to give back gains.
○The data is the data: St. Paul has at least 5 years of Zillow tracking, full Census identification, and is included in the 2-criteria momentum score on this page.

▼ Bear case

●Flat or shrinking population: -0.3% per year. Housing demand has to come from somewhere — verify the source.
○Local nuance: city-level data smooths over neighborhood differences. School zones, HOA rules, and street-level character matter — visit before deciding.

About St. Paul (Wikipedia)

Saint Paul is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city and the 63rd-most populous in the United States. Saint Paul and neighboring Minneapolis form the core of the Twin Cities metropolitan area, the third most populous in the Midwest with around 3.7 million residents.

Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.

City facts

MayorKaohly Her (DFL)
Area56.10 sq mi
Elevation824 ft
IncorporatedMarch 4, 1854
MottoThe most livable city in America* image_map = maplink
Density5994.02/sq mi
Named forSt. Paul the Apostle

Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.

Playbook

Buyer

Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.

Seller

Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.

Investor

Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for Ramsey County right now.

NWS active alerts (MN)Minnesota Emergency ManagementHow to prepare (NWS)

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Ramsey County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Cities like St. Paul

Minneapolis, MN59 · StableBrooklyn Park, MN61 · StableEagan, MN58 · StableSt. Louis Park, MN59 · Stable

Run the numbers for St. Paul

ToolCan I afford St. Paul?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a St. Paul rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare St. Paul to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolSt. Paul cost-of-livingEquivalent income elsewhere

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
22° / 4°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
82° / 62°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
198
~54% of year
Annual precip
28″ rain
45″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
Very low
Tornado
High
Wildfire
Very low
Earthquake
Very low
Flood
Low

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current St. Paul listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local news & community

Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
71%
Humid climate
Median household income
$84,300
Minnesota state median
Top industries (state-level)
Medical DevicesFinanceManufacturing

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

Cities similar to St. Paul

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