6 Small Towns Near Minneapolis Worth a Look Before You Buy

Most people moving to the Minneapolis area go straight to the inner suburbs. What I see all the time is people who rush the move and later wish they’d looked around more. After 24-plus years and more than 3,700 transactions, here are six small towns just outside the metro I tell my own family to check out.

Prices are as of my video above (May 2026).

Stillwater

Imagine walking out of a coffee shop on a Saturday morning with the St. Croix River at the end of the street, a lift bridge in front of you and historic storefronts on both sides. Stillwater is one of the oldest towns in Minnesota, older than the state itself. Spend the morning in local boutiques, antique stores and bookstores, then have lunch by the water. Lowell Park runs along the riverfront, and the lift bridge is now a pedestrian and bike crossing to miles of trails in Wisconsin.

Summer weekends get busy, with boats, trolley tours and packed patios. But go two blocks off Main Street and it’s quiet and residential, with big trees.

• Commute: about 35 to 40 minutes to downtown Minneapolis outside rush hour.
• Prices: Victorian mansions to newer custom homes in the hills, with most in the high $400,000s and historic homes near downtown in the upper $600,000s. Inventory stays light, especially anything walkable to Main Street.

Northfield

The town slogan is “Cows, Colleges and Contentment,” and it fits. The Cannon River runs through downtown, with Carleton College on one side and St. Olaf up the hill on the other, which helps keep downtown lively for a town this size. Expect indie bookstores, bakery cafés, live music in the park, a river walk people actually use, and outdoor rinks in winter. One of the most famous bank robberies in American history (Jesse James’s gang) happened here, and the town celebrates it every fall.

• Commute: about 45 minutes up I-35 to downtown Minneapolis, one of the longer ones.
• Prices: most homes in the low to mid-$300,000s. The market cooled a bit, giving buyers more room to negotiate. See Northfield.

Waconia

Drive five minutes and put your boat in Lake Waconia, the second-largest lake in the metro, about 30 miles southwest of Minneapolis. It still has an old resort-town feel, but now it’s home year-round: boat launches, a public beach, fishing off the docks, a walkable downtown with Lola’s Lakehouse on the water and The Main Scoop for ice cream, a farmers market, and ice fishing in winter. Schram Vineyards and a few breweries are minutes away.

• Commute: about 40 to 45 minutes to downtown Minneapolis.
• Prices: most homes in the low $500,000s; lakefront often well past $1 million. Prices kept rising while many towns went flat. It’s lake life without Lake Minnetonka pricing. See Waconia.

New Prague

About 40 miles southwest, New Prague was settled by Czech and Bohemian immigrants in the 1800s, and that heritage is still part of the town: Czech street banners, old-world bakeries, a Czech Heritage Club and the Dožínky harvest festival, running for more than 40 years. The brick, walkable Main Street includes shops open for over a century. I grew up nearby, and there’s nowhere else like it around the Twin Cities. Start at the bakery, stroll Main Street past the historical society, grab lunch at Fishtail, then head to Cedar Lake or the trails.

• Commute: about 45 to 55 minutes to downtown.
• Prices: historic homes near downtown and newer builds around town, mostly in the high $300,000s to low $400,000s. See New Prague.

Prior Lake

Prior Lake is built around a big lake system, with two public beaches and multiple boat launches. A Saturday might be the farmers market, lunch at Charlie’s on Prior by the lake, Boathouse Brothers Brewery, then ice cream at Lakeside Eats & Treats. In winter, the lake becomes ice fishing and pond hockey central.

• Commute: better than people expect, about 30 to 35 minutes to downtown Minneapolis, plus a weekday express bus. The airport is 25 to 35 minutes, and the Mall of America 20 to 30.
• Prices: mostly mid to upper $400,000s; lakefront climbs into seven figures. Good homes move quickly at every price.

Elk River

About 35 miles northwest, where the Elk and Mississippi rivers meet, Elk River still has a small-town feel: a 1920s water tower, a walkable Main Street with pubs, and parks along the river. It’s a gateway to “up north,” with wide-open land just outside town. A Saturday might be breakfast on Main Street, a walk along the Mississippi, the farmers market, then a nearby lake or regional park.

• Commute: about 40 to 45 minutes on US 10.
• Prices: mostly newer subdivision homes, plus some early-1900s farmhouses on the edges, generally in the low to mid-$400,000s.

Which one fits you?

Six towns, six very different ways to live. It comes down to what you want your day-to-day to look like. Email our team and we’ll help you sort it out, or see suburbs beyond the beltway.