These Are The 20 Least Expensive Counties In Minnesota To Live In

We recently shared the most expensive counties to live in across Minnesota, highlighting the places with the highest cost of living of all of the 87 counties in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Among the most expensive counties to live in across the state, not all of those counties are in immediate metro areas, as you might expect. When you factor in cost of living expenses like food, housing, healthcare, transportation, taxes, and certain other cost of living expenses, even less urban areas can have a higher cost of living in some places.

Overall, Minnesota is the 26th most expensive state in the country to live in according to data compiled by the website WiseVoter when looking at 2023 information. Minnesota's statewide "average living wage" for a single person with no kids is slightly higher, however, coming in at the 18th-highest in the country. The statewide average hourly wage you'd need to support yourself and basic needs according to that data is $17.74 per hour.

While the county cost of living in 11 of Minnesota's counties exceeds that $17.74 average, several counties come in under that statewide average - Some of them pretty significantly.

On the high end of the spectrum, Minnesota's most expensive counties require wages up to $19.17 per hour to cover basic expenses, which is comparable with the statewide average cost of living wage for states like Colorado and Virginia.

Meanwhile, the least expensive counties in the state demand as little as two-thirds of that hourly wage to cover the same basic expenses - coming in lower than South Dakota and Wyoming's statewide living wage average, which are the lowest states on that spectrum.

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Here's a look at the 20 least expensive counties to live in across Minnesota and how much you'd need to make to earn what is called a "living wage" to cover the average expenses expected for the average single working adult.