Stillwater Is One Of America's Best Beach Towns: Study

STILLWATER, MN — It's officially summertime, which means the season of beaches, boats, and BBQ is in full swing. In the land of 10,000 lakes, you're never too far from a beach. But if you live in Stillwater, you in one of the best beach towns in the country, according to a new study.

Personal-finance website WalletHub analyzed 2017's best beach towns to live in. It found that Stillwater is the 15th best beach town in the nation. Minnesota's Eden Prairie was ranked 3rd, and Duluth fell at No. 10. Chanhassen and Cloquet, Minnesota also made the top 20. Blaine was ranked 25th.

Hastings came at 48, and Fridley was ranked at No. 75.

To determine the ideal beachside communities, WalletHub compared 227 cities across 49 key metrics. The data set ranges from housing costs to the number of waterfront properties to the quality of beach itself.

Stillwater was ranked high in the "education and health" category. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Minnesota Patch, click here to find your local Minnesota Patch. Also, follow us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Top 20 Best Beach Towns in America

1. Naples, FL
2. Key West, FL
3. Eden Prairie, MN
4. Traverse City, MI
5. St. Augustine, FL
6. Charleston, SC
7. Marco Island, FL
8. Key Biscayne, FL
9. Boca Raton, FL
10. Duluth, MN
11. Lahaina, HI
12. Sarasota, FL
13. Kihei, HI
14. Jupiter, FL
15. Stillwater, MN
16. Chanhassen, MN
17. Cloquet, MN
18. Stoughton, WI
19. Mill Valley, CA
20. Olathe, KS

Best vs. Worst

• La Porte, TX has the lowest median home price as a share of income, 1.80, which is nine times lower than in Malibu, CA, the city with the highest at 16.19.
• Wailuku, HI, has the lowest median annual property taxes, 0.16 percent, which is 23.8 times lower than in Zion, IL, the city with the highest at 3.80 percent.
• Traverse City and Alpena, MI have the fewest disaster declarations (since 1953), three each, which is 19.7 times fewer than in seven California cities: Santa Monica, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Santa Fe Springs, Palos Verdes Estates and Malibu, which have the most at 59 each.
• Rye, NY has the lowest property crimes per 1,000 residents, 2.99, which is 48.1 times lower than in Myrtle Beach, SC, the city with the highest at 143.86.
• Hermosa Beach, CA has the highest walk score, 84, which is 7.6 times higher than in Navarre, Fla., and Mequon, Wis., the cities with the lowest at 11.
• Manhattan Beach, CA has the most beach volleyball courts (per square root of the population), 0.1166, which is 44.8 times more than in Savannah, Ga., the city with the fewest at 0.0026.

View Wallet Hub's full report here.

Image via Shutterstock