Top 10 Safest Cities and Towns in Minnesota Might Surprise You
I'm not going to lie, I was pretty surprised to see Rochester so low on the list. Out of the 19 large cities in Minnesota, Rochester came in 12th. Yikes. I'm used to Rochester being on top, or at least in the top 5 of the best places to live. According to this study, that's not the case, but I still feel pretty safe in Rochester. So how did they determine which cities were safest?
AdvisorSmith started by breaking it down into three categories: large cities with a population of 50,000 or more, midsize cities with a population between 10,000 and 50,000, and towns having less than 10,000 people.
They then "examined crime data published by the FBI to determine the safest towns and cities in Minnesota. Their analysis was based upon reported levels of property crimes such as burglary and vehicle theft, along with violent crimes reported by each city."
Lakeville was named the safest city in Minnesota. Plymouth was number two, Edina came in 3rd, followed by Woodbury, Eden Praire, Minnetonka, Maple Grove, Eagan, Apple Valley, and Coon Rapids wrapping up the top 10.
Rochester came in 12th with a crime score of 38.6, which was below the average of 43 in large Minnesota cities, but significantly higher than Lakeville (14).
Owatonna came in number 25 in midsize cities with a crime score of 26.8. Fairbault was 54th on the list with a crime score of 45.8.