If there's one thing we take a great deal of pride in here in Minnesota, it's our lake life.

We live on the lake, we vacation on the lake, we swim in the lake, we fish on the lake, we boat on the lake, we skate on the lake, we ski on the lake. Occasionally, we even put our vehicles through the ice on the lake. We're the land of 10,000 Lakes, and we own it in every way possible.

Any Minnesotan would make a strong case that you can't beat lake life in Minnesota. Apparently, however, you can. A new study from WalletHub ranks the best beach towns to live in in 2021, and only two Minnesota towns cracked the list.

Comparing 191 cities around the country and then dividing those between oceanfront and lakefront, the folks at WalletHub analyzed 6 different key dimensions including affordability, weather, safety, economy, education & health, and quality of life. They looked specifically at cities with populations between 10,000 and 150,000 and at least one beach listed on Trip Advisor.

Of the 46 lakefront towns to make WalletHub's list, two from Minnesota made an appearance -- Eden Prairie (14) and Duluth (15). Eden Prairie -- which includes Lake Riley, Rice Lake, Grass Lake and Staring Lake -- actually ranked fairly well overall with scores of 7 for Safety, 8 for Economy, 9 for Weather and 10 for Affordability. Duluth -- located on Lake Superior -- ranked 22 for Safety, 22 for Economy, 13 for Weather and 31 for Affordability.

Source: WalletHub

Wisconsin, in contrast, saw eight cities make the list of Best Lake-Beach Towns including Brookfield at No. 10; Illinois saw four towns make the list including Highland Park at No. 9.

While there's no doubt that Minnesota boasts plenty of recognition-worthy lakeside towns like Brainerd, Grand Rapids, Grand Marais and others, the simple truth is that most are just too small to make WalletHub's list (population 10,000 or more, remember?). We can live with that. Minnesota's lake life may not be Number 1 on WalletHub's study, but it will always be Number 1 in our hearts!

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