Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 9,458, settled in 1860.
Few places in the country grade higher. Minnetrista earns an A+, 35th among Minnesota's 271 graded towns. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 98% of the country, its schools outperform 92% of the state's, and the median household earns $163K. The exception is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $686K, 6.9 years of the Minneapolis metro’s $100K median household income. 69% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Minnetrista, against 33% in Minnesota’s towns and 29% across U.S. towns. Only 1 of the 256 Minnesota towns we compare have a higher median rent than Minnetrista. Minnetrista has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Crane Island Historic District and Schmid Farmhouse Ruin.
Where Minnetrista beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Minnetrista | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 5.2% | 8.9% |
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Hilltop Primary School | K–4 | 422 |
| Mound Westonka High School | 8–12 | 895 |
| Transition Plus | 12 | 10 |
6,384 counted in 2010 and 8,262 in 2020; an estimated 9,458 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 14.5% since 2020, after 29.4% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Minnesota), ordered by how far Minnetrista is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for health (better than 98% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 11%), so the A+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 212 in 1860, a low of 212 in 1860, 8,262 in 2020. The archive holds 4 old photos and papers going back to 2005 and 3 maps from 1905 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Minnetrista. Close and well known come first.
Big draw22 mi Stadium & arenaU.S. Bank Stadium
7 mi LakeLake Minnetonka
21 mi Stadium & arenaTarget Field
24 mi Stadium & arenaHuntington Bank Stadium
16 mi Theme parkValleyfair
30 mi Stadium & arenaGrand Casino ArenaU.S. Bank Stadium: Darb02, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lake Minnetonka: Dan, CC BY 2.0 · Target Field: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Huntington Bank Stadium: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Valleyfair: https://www.flickr.com/photos/clumpinglitter/, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Grand Casino Arena: AlexiusHoratius, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Minnetrista, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Minnetrista.
Minnetrista has less tooth loss than most of Minnesota and sends most of its workers to Minneapolis and beyond, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Minnesota.
At 6.9 years of the Minneapolis metro’s $100K median household income, the typical home (about $686K) costs more against local pay than in 96% of Minnesota towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $6,038, against $3,357 across Minnesota, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Minnetrista home is worth about $686,000, up 2.7% in a year, 97% above the Minnesota typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its A for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $686K.
Its public schools are run by the Westonka Public School District. Two of its 9 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Mound Westonka High School, with 895 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hilltop Primary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 422 | A+ |
| Mound Westonka High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 8–12 | Grades 8–12 | 895 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Minnesota is tooth loss: 5.2% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 8.9% statewide.
15% of Minnetrista adults get no exercise outside work. Among 271 Minnesota towns, just 9 have a lower share of adults who sleep under 7 hours than Minnetrista. 9.7% of Minnetrista adults smoke cigarettes.
| Minnetrista | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 30% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 35% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.1% | 12% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 23% | 25% |
| What stands out | Minnetrista | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 5.2% | 8.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.7% | 11.4% |
| More binge drinkers | 19.7% | 17.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Reported crimes fell from 68 to 32 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 4 reported in 2025, 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
Minnetrista’s property crime rate is 2.4 per 1,000 residents.
| Minnetrista | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.4 per 1,000 residents | 8.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.3 per 1,000 residents | 1.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Minnetrista has 883 jobs for its 4,279 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. Jobs based here grew from 612 in 2013 to 883.
Most working residents leave Minnetrista for work: only 3% work in town. Since 2013, Minnetrista has added 271 jobs, to 883 in 2023. The average trip to work in Minnetrista is 27 minutes.
| Minnetrista | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $163,000 | $90,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.3% | 9.9% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 8.8% | 7% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 75% of U.S. communities. Since 2013, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Minnetrista.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
12 miles of trail in 12 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Gale Woods Farm, 425 acres with 3 miles of trail.
| Minnetrista | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 3.2% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Gale Woods Farm | 3 mi | 425 |
| 2. Lake Minnetonka Regional Park | 2.2 mi | 293 |
| 3. Kingswood Park | 1.4 mi | 83 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Minnetrista has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 5° and about 45 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
1 within 15 miles of the center of Minnetrista
About 1 of every 100 Minnetrista residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Minnesota.
Where Minnetrista’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
City in Minnesota, United States
Minnetrista is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. It is located about 23 miles (37 km) west of Minneapolis, and is part of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. The largely rural Minnetrista has agricultural activity involving corn, soybeans, hay, and horses. In addition to farmland and woods, the city contains several lakes, including part of Lake Minnetonka, the state's ninth-largest. The city's population was 8,262 at the 2020 census. Minnetrista's name originates in the Dakota language, in which minne means "water" and trista means "crooked".
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Minnetrista.
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnetrista | #35 | A+ | D | A | A | A+ |
| Mound | #18 | A+ | B− | — | A+ | A |
| Victoria | #20 | A+ | C− | — | A | A+ |
| Watertown Township | — | — | C | — | A− | A− |
| Independence | #61 | A | C− | — | A+ | A+ |
| Laketown Township | — | — | B− | — | A | A |
| Orono | #56 | A | D | A− | A+ | A+ |
| Shorewood | #47 | A | D | — | A+ | A+ |
Watertown Township and Laketown Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Mound, Victoria, Watertown Township, Independence, Laketown Township and Shorewood report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Minnetrista with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Minnetrista grades A+ overall, better than 95% of U.S. towns and #35 of 271 in Minnesota. It grades A+ for health, A for safety and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
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