Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
West St. Paul grades B− overall, 217th among Minnesota's 271 graded towns, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. It is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 90% of U.S. towns and natural-hazard risk is low. On the other side, its police reported 59 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 90% of U.S. towns. West St. Paul’s property crime rate is 37.6 per 1,000 residents, above both the Minnesota town median (8.6) and the median of U.S. towns (9.9). Among 274 Minnesota towns, just 4 have a higher January low than West St. Paul. George W. Wentworth House is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where West St. Paul beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Minnesota), ordered by how far West St. Paul is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,596 in 1890, 20,615 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1874 and 6 maps from 1896 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around West St. Paul. Close and well known come first.
Big draw10 mi Stadium & arenaU.S. Bank Stadium
3 mi Stadium & arenaGrand Casino Arena
9 mi Stadium & arenaHuntington Bank Stadium
11 mi Stadium & arenaTarget Field
5 mi LandmarkFort Snelling
5 mi Stadium & arenaAllianz FieldU.S. Bank Stadium: Darb02, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Grand Casino Arena: AlexiusHoratius, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Huntington Bank Stadium: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Target Field: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fort Snelling: en:User:The Statue With The Dictionary, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Allianz Field: Andy Witchger, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in West St. Paul, 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 West St. Paul.
West St. Paul is healthier than towns with similar incomes and gets more snow than most of the country, though not than most of Minnesota; it also reports property crime at about twice the Minnesota rate.
The trail network density in West St. Paul is 1.2 miles per square mile. In 13 parks and preserves, walkers have 5.9 miles of trail. Dodge Nature Center, at 156 acres with 2.9 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| West St. Paul | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.2 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.8% | 4.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Dodge Nature Center | 2.9 mi | 156 |
| 2. Thompson County Park | 1.6 mi | 58 |
| 3. Harmon Park | 0.9 mi | 19 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan school district. Two of its 16 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Public school enrollment locally: 783 students across 2 schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heritage E-STEM Magnet SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 761 | C+ |
| Academic Arts High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 78 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
Property crime runs at 37.6 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Minnesota rate, most of it theft.
For West St. Paul, the violent offense rate is 2.6 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Households in West St. Paul have drawn federal disaster aid once, in 2012. FEMA expects less storm and flood damage here than in 85% of U.S. communities. Expected losses in West St. Paul break down as 30% from tornadoes and 28% from inland flooding. Since 1997, West St. Paul has seen 4 flood insurance claims paid out.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 10,383 U.S. towns with household incomes like West St. Paul’s, it is healthier than 84%, so its B+ isn’t only a matter of income. Within Minnesota it is less healthy than 66% of the 271 graded towns: Minnesota sets a high bar.
Among adults in West St. Paul, 30% sleep under 7 hours. Two figures for adults here: 27% get no exercise outside work, 15% report frequent mental distress.
| West St. Paul | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 30% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 23% | 25% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 7.3% | 8.1% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | West St. Paul | MN |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 10.4% | 7.5% |
| More adults who get no exercise | 26.9% | 22.3% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 6.8% | 5.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The U Of Mn St Paul weather station, 8 miles away, records that 40 inches of snow fall in a normal winter: more than most of the country, but less than 83% of Minnesota places with climate records. January nights average 7.3°: colder than most of the country, but milder than 98% of Minnesota places with climate records; July afternoons average 82°.
The typical July afternoon high for West St. Paul comes to 82°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
In West St. Paul, the middle household income is $68,000. Commuting out is the norm here: 8% of working residents work locally. For workers locally, the share who work from home is 20%. The top destinations are St. Paul (20%), Minneapolis (13%) and Eagan (6%).
| West St. Paul | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 20% | 14% | 11% |
| Median household income | $68,000 | $91,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 8.9% | 7% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Typical home values rose 2.4% in the year to September 2026. In West St. Paul, 57% of households live in a home they own. On the market locally: a median 23 days to sell.
| West St. Paul | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 57% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,282 a month | $1,192 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Minnesota average. West St. Paul: 20% of residents are under 18. Population is up 6.5% locally since 2020, to 21,950 by the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. College graduates make up just over a third of adults 25 and older, against 39% across Minnesota.
| West St. Paul | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 20% | 23% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 21% | 17% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 35% | 33% | 29% |
54% women, 46% men
About 85 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±2.2 points). Across Minnesota, 49.9% of residents are women.
| West St. Paul | MN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.4% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.2% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.9% | 8.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16.1% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13% | 13.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.2% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.7% | 12.9% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.4% | 10.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.1% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 7.5% | 6.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24.5% | 23.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.1% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.4% | 11.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.5% | 25.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.9% | 13.8% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
26 within 15 miles of the center of West St. Paul
About 4 of every 100 West St. Paul residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Minnesota.
8 notable people were born in West St. Paul.
City in Minnesota, United States
West St. Paul is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 20,615 at the 2020 census. It is immediately south of Saint Paul and immediately west of South St. Paul.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with West St. Paul.
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West St. Paul | #217 | B− | B− | D | B | B+ |
| South St. Paul | #206 | B | B | C+ | C | B+ |
| Inver Grove Heights | #89 | A | C+ | C+ | B+ | A |
| St. Paul | #259 | C | C+ | D | C− | B+ |
| Sunfish Lake | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Sunfish Lake isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare West St. Paul with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
West St. Paul grades B− overall, better than 50% of U.S. towns and #217 of 271 in Minnesota. It grades B+ for health, D for safety and B for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 3.2 years of the area's median household income ($99,833 across the Minneapolis-St. 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 B−.
8 notable people were born here, including Harold Stassen and Paul Johnson.
.jpg){kind=link}