Thinking about moving to Minnesota but you’d like to know a little more about what it’s like to live here? You’re in luck! We’ve put together the top ten things that you need to know before moving to Minnesota.

Number one, we love our seasons.

We have all four of them here, but the biggest and longest one is winter. We are the coldest of the top 50 metros in the United States, but as Minnesotans, we embrace the winters. We love it. We’re not the snowiest metro with about 36-70 inches of snow each year, and some winters are snowier than others, but it is a cold state. You have got to learn to bundle up and be warm. It is part of what makes us Minnesotans. We're hardy and we like to get out in the winters. We love ice fishing and we go on these tiny little houses in the middle of lakes and fish in the middle of the winter. It's kind of crazy if you haven’t been around it your whole life. But don’t worry, we also love our summers. Our summers are jam-packed with so much to do here. They're not as long as other summers, so we squeeze a whole lot into every one of them.

Number two, the Twin Cities

There's about 3.5 million people that live in the Twin Cities, and we are the 16th largest metro in the United States. St. Paul is kind of the sleepy little sister of Minneapolis. If you want a little bit more lively life, Minneapolis is the place to go. If you want a little bit more laid-back hometown feel, Saint Paul is for you. And then there are the other surrounding suburbs. Every single one of those is different. We’ll go over that in some upcoming blog posts and videos.

Number three, the economy.

Minnesota has a strong economy. As of August of 2022, our unemployment rate was 1.9%, which is one of the lowest in the nation. We have over 19 Fortune 500 companies here, and it is a big reason that many people move here is simply relocation for work. Best Buy, General Mills, 3M, just to name a few.

Number four, we're a really smart state.

Minnesota has the number six ranked public school system in all of the United States. There are such good public schools around here that many people opt to not put their kids into private schools and opt to live in one of the communities that have some of these phenomenal public schools.

Number five our parks and trail systems.

Minneapolis and St. Paul are actually both ranked in the top five in the country for the best parks and trails. A little-known fact: 98% of Minneapolis residents and 99% of St. Paul residents all live within a ten-minute walk to a park.

Number six, the wildlife.

The official Minnesota state bird is the loon. But in Minnesota, we actually consider the mosquito the real Minnesota state bird. Since we have over 10,000 lakes here, there's a lot of breeding grounds for these mosquitoes. And if you're out in the summer, you’ll definitely want to carry some bug spray with you. But don’t let them deter your summer plans!

Number seven, grey duck.

We may be the Grey Duck Properties team, but grey duck is a real thing in Minnesota. All around the country, most children play a game called Duck Duck Goose. Well, in Minnesota, we play Duck Duck Grey Duck. Minnesota is actually the correct ones here! You see, the game originated in Sweden, and the actual translation is Anka Anka Grå Anka, which directly translates to “duck duck grey duck”.

Since “grey duck” is Minnesotan, you’ll find a lot of it here. There are taverns, bars, stores, restaurants, and all kinds of different gray duck stuff here and we love it. We've really embodied the grey duck culture.

Number eight, the cost of living.

In Minnesota, the cost of living is actually 2.5% less than the national average. So we're definitely not the most expensive state, but we're not the least expensive either. We're actually ranked number 20. So we're kind of right there in the middle. There are a lot of good jobs in Minnesota, making it an easy state to live in. Well, besides the winters.

Number nine, traffic.

During the winter the roads will freeze over, and there'll be lots of snow on the ground. Traffic can be really bad. A famous joke we have in Minnesota is there are really two seasons: winter and road construction. Because a lot of the road construction can't take place over the winter months, all of it happens during the summer months and things can get a bit backed up. Overall, our traffic isn’t bad here. When things are moving you can pretty much get anywhere in the cities in about 20 minutes.

Number ten, we're nice.

Minnesotans are really, really nice people, but we're also known to be a little bit passive-aggressive. As the saying goes, Minnesotans will give you directions anywhere except to their house. So we're really nice people, but there is a lot of passive-aggressive behavior that does happen in Minnesota. We can’t tell you why it's become so prevalent here, that’s just the way we are.

Those are the top ten things that you should know before moving to Minnesota. Good or bad, we love our state! Give us a call if you’re curious about moving, we’d love to talk to you more about Minnesota!