How Much Does It Cost to Live In Saint Paul, MN?
Saint Paul (often referred to as St. Paul) is the capital city and the second-largest city of Minnesota.
With its sister city, Minneapolis, it forms what is known as the Twin Cities metropolitan area.
These two cities are characterized by gorgeous nature-like urban lakes surrounded by trails and walkways, or massive urban parks including those at Minnehaha Falls and along the Mississippi River.
There is a vibrant uptown area with access to the city’s well-known lakes.
The main campus of the University of Minnesota is right next to Downtown.
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RESTAURANTS
There are lots of great restaurants in St.Paul and a relatively good foodie scene.
However, if you want to get food after 10 pm, your options slim down to largely fast food.
The prices are more or less the same as anywhere else in America: a delicious meal in an inexpensive restaurant will cost you around 13.5$.
MARKETS
Indian, East Asian, Latino, African, and middle eastern grocery stores can be found scattered all around the city.
Groceries, in general, are cheap, and there are all the regular supermarkets as in other cities.
Whole Foods is more expensive, as per usual, but it’s still cheaper than eating out all the time.
TRANSPORTATION
While you don’t need a car to live in the urban core, you will likely have one, since the transit system is still based on slow urban bus lines for the most part.
The public transport is expensive at 2.25$ per ride, yet pretty bad with slow bus routes, including very few routes outside of downtown, especially in comparison to Minneapolis.
UTILITIES (MONTHLY)
Utilities are much more expensive than in Minneapolis if you look at the price of all included utilities for an apartment of a larger structure (85m2): for such an apartment, all basic utilities – including electricity, along with heating and cooling, water, gas, and garbage services – costs around 180$.
Internet is pretty pricey though, amounting to almost 70$.
SPORTS & LEISURE
The city has an amazing park system and you can get just about anywhere on a bike path/dedicated bike lane.
The city offers amazing areas to exercise and great air quality like no other city, so you can exercise outdoors for free all the time!
If that’s not your cup of tea, you can pay for a gym, but it is rather expensive: 60$ a month.
CLOTHING & SHOES
The Twin Cities, St. Paul, and Minneapolis have major enclosed shopping malls including the monstrous Mall of America, the nation’s largest shopping and entertainment destination featuring over 520 stores.
Generally speaking, the prices of clothing are reasonable: quality jeans cost around 40$ and quality sneakers around 87$.
RENT PER MONTH
St. Paul is pretty pricey when it comes to rent.
It depends on what you want but generally, a smaller apartment in the city center will cost you around 1300$, while a larger apartment in the same area moves from 2250$ and up.
If you want a cheaper apartment, you’ll have to move further away from the center, where the price drops to around 1000$.
Cost of Living Averages Table for Saint Paul, MN
*Note: All prices are indicated in USD.| Average Restaurant Prices | |
|---|---|
| Meal (Inexpensive Restaurant) | $13.50 |
| Domestic Beer (0.5 Liter) | $5.50 |
| Water (0.33 Liter) | $1.88 | Average Market Prices |
| Milk (1 Liter) | $0.89 |
| Loaf Bread (500g) | $2.69 |
| Eggs (12) | $4.75 | Average Transport Prices |
| One Way Ticket | $2.25 |
| Monthly Pass | $85.00 |
| Gasoline | $0.92 | Average Utilities Prices |
| Basic (Water, Electricity, Garbage, Heating, Cooling) | $179.22 |
| 1 min. of Prepaid Mobile Tariff Local | $0.10 |
| Internet (Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL) | $70.38 | Average Leisure Prices |
| Fitness Club, Monthly Fee for 1 Adult | $58.75 |
| Tennis Court Rent (1 Hour) | $10.00 |
| Cinema, 1 Seat, International Release | $12.00 | Average Clothing Prices |
| 1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Comparable) | $38.25 |
| 1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store (Zara, etc...) | $41.60 |
| 1 Pair of Adidas Walking Shoes (Mid-Range) | $87.78 | Average Rent Prices |
| Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Center | $1374.00 |
| Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Center | $1070.00 |
| Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Center | $2225.0 |
How Does the Average Person Spend Their Money in Saint Paul, MN?
Food is, without a doubt, the biggest expense for anyone living in St. Paul along with food.
With over 33% of one’s entire income being spent on food, it is definitely one of the most expensive aspects of living in this city, if not the most expensive one.
Rent takes up the second place of all expenses, and it’s pretty pricey in most area of the city.
Apart from food and rent, people spend a lot of money on transportation and restaurants, and though among lesser expenses – utilities are also a noticeable financial burden for an average person living in St. Paul.
Average Costs Breakdown
Saint Paul, MN: Average Salary, Minimum Wage & Mortgages
The Twin Cities is home to over a dozen Fortune 500 firms and many more companies.
The unemployment rate is generally much lower than the national one and very few people actually work for federal minimum wages.
The minimum wage of St. Paul which amounts to around 1900$ is still a reasonable amount of money that just goes in line with the high standard of the United States, especially taking into consideration that the prices here are lower than the country’s average.
The average monthly net salary in St. Paul is around 4500$ which is rather reasonable, taking into account the cost of living here.
St. Paul Safety Overview
READ THE FULL REPORT: St. Paul Safety Review
Safety Index:
- OVERALL RISK: MEDIUM
- TRANSPORT & TAXIS RISK: LOW
- PICKPOCKETS RISK: LOW
- NATURAL DISASTERS RISK: LOW
- MUGGING RISK: MEDIUM
- TERRORISM RISK: LOW
- SCAMS RISK: LOW
- WOMEN TRAVELERS RISK: LOW
