Best Places to Buy Rental Property in Minnesota (2026)

Minnesota's statewide median sold price is $371,900 across 31,329 closings in the past six months. Fifteen city markets in the state closed 100 or more homes below $315,000, and one of them, Austin, closed at $199,900. For investors, those fifteen define where Minnesota entry costs are actually manageable.

A note on method first, because it changes what this list can and cannot tell you.

What this ranking measures

Each city below is ranked on two verified figures: median sold price over the past six months, and total closings in that window. Entry cost, and liquidity.

We do not have rent data for these cities. So this article contains no rent estimates, no rent-to-price ratios, no cap rates, and no cash-on-cash returns. Those numbers would have to be invented to appear here, and an invented rent assumption is the most common reason a rental purchase underperforms. Rent has to be verified property by property, on the actual address, using local research. Once you have a real rent figure, test it with the rental property calculator and the deal analyzer.

Entry price and closing volume are genuinely useful on their own. They tell you how much capital a market ties up, what tenant pool the price point implies, and how difficult an exit is likely to be.

One structural note specific to Minnesota: this is a compressed-price state. The gap between the cheapest and most expensive markets here is narrow compared with most states, so the ranking below spans roughly $115,000 from top to bottom rather than the several-hundred-thousand-dollar ranges seen elsewhere.

The ranking, cheapest entry price first

1. Austin, $199,900 median, 169 closings

The only Minnesota market on this list that closed below $200,000, and by a margin of roughly $50,000 over the next cheapest. In a state where the median closing is $371,900, Austin represents the lowest capital commitment available at meaningful volume. 169 closings over six months is a modest but functional market, enough to support comparable-sales work without being deep. Southern Minnesota location, anchored by a single major employer, which is worth understanding before you commit capital to a single-employer town.

2. Winona, $250,000 median, 137 closings

Along the Mississippi in the southeast corner. 137 closings gives it a small but working market. The presence of a university influences the local rental picture, which is a factor to research directly rather than assume.

3. Willmar, $250,000 median, 101 closings

Same median as Winona, the thinnest volume on this list at 101 closings. West-central Minnesota, standalone regional economy. Workable for a long-hold strategy, weak on exit optionality.

4. Cloquet, $271,000 median, 104 closings

Just southwest of Duluth, which matters. 104 local closings understates the effective market, because Duluth next door closed 544 homes in the same period, and the two are close enough that buyer and tenant pools overlap.

5. Saint Cloud, $275,000 median, 355 closings

One of the strongest combinations on this list. 355 closings is the second-highest volume here, and a $275,000 median sits nearly $100,000 below the statewide figure. Saint Cloud is a genuine regional center with its own economy, university presence, and enough transaction depth that valuations rest on real comparable evidence and exits are not dependent on a handful of buyers.

6. Owatonna, $279,285 median, 192 closings

Southern Minnesota along the interstate corridor. 192 closings is respectable for a city of its size, and the entry price is $92,615 below the state median.

7. Moorhead, $281,250 median, 246 closings

Western border, paired with Fargo across the state line. 246 closings is strong volume for this list, and the cross-border metro means the functional market is considerably larger than the Moorhead number alone suggests. Worth noting that a cross-state metro adds regulatory and tax considerations that a single-state market does not.

8. Grand Rapids, $287,000 median, 100 closings

Northern Minnesota, exactly at the 100-closing threshold. The thinnest market on the list alongside Willmar. Entry cost is moderate, liquidity is the constraint.

9. Brainerd, $294,000 median, 173 closings

Central lakes region. 173 closings. Brainerd's market has a seasonal and recreational component that makes it structurally different from a pure workforce-housing market, and that difference should be researched at the property level rather than assumed from the median.

10. Mankato, $295,000 median, 171 closings

South-central regional center with a university. 171 closings, entry price $76,900 below the state median. Similar profile to Owatonna with slightly higher entry cost.

11. Faribault, $295,000 median, 135 closings

Same median as Mankato, lower volume at 135 closings. Southern Minnesota, within commuting distance of the southern Twin Cities suburbs, which broadens the potential tenant pool relative to an isolated market at the same price.

12. Bemidji, $295,500 median, 204 closings

Northern Minnesota regional hub. 204 closings is solid volume for a market this far from the metro, making it one of the more liquid options in the northern half of the state.

13. Brooklyn Center, $303,500 median, 166 closings

An inner-ring Twin Cities suburb, and structurally different from everything above it. The tenant and buyer pools connect to the full metro economy rather than a local one, and Minneapolis next door closed 3,117 homes at a $365,000 median in the same six months. You are paying roughly $61,500 less than the Minneapolis median for metro access, with 166 local closings.

14. Duluth, $310,000 median, 544 closings

The most liquid market on this list by a considerable distance. 544 closings places Duluth among the twelve highest-volume city markets in the entire state, while its median stays $61,900 below the statewide figure. That pairing, high volume and below-median price, is the most investor-friendly structural combination in this dataset. Comparable sales are plentiful, valuation support is strong, and the exit does not depend on a thin buyer pool.

15. Columbia Heights, $314,000 median, 142 closings

Another inner-ring Twin Cities suburb, immediately north of Minneapolis. Highest entry price on this list at $314,000, still below the state median, with 142 closings. Same metro-adjacency logic as Brooklyn Center.

How to use this ranking

Sort these fifteen by liquidity rather than by price and the picture sharpens. Duluth at 544 closings and Saint Cloud at 355 are in a tier of their own, combining below-median entry prices with the transaction depth that makes valuation and exit straightforward. Moorhead at 246, Bemidji at 204, and Owatonna at 192 form a solid second tier. Willmar and Grand Rapids at roughly 100 closings each sit at the thin end, where a small number of transactions determines the median and your exit depends on few buyers.

Then move from the market to the property, because that is where the money is made or lost. A median price says nothing about a specific home's condition, and condition drives value more than any other single variable at these price points. Resideline estimates condition from listing photos, makes the comparable sales behind each valuation visible and adjustable so you can correct a bad comp yourself, and freezes every estimate at listing before grading it against the real closing price, published openly on the accuracy dashboard. Live valuations cover 31 states.

Run the specific address through the ARV calculator if renovation is part of the plan, then the deal analyzer for the full purchase, rehab, and financing picture. The free tools work without a signup. And verify rent on the property itself before you rely on any cash-flow projection.