Need Peace And Quiet? Where Minnesota Ranks Among Loudest States

While some people love the hustle and bustle of living in a big city, getting away from it all to relax in a quieter place is something most people crave. Minnesota is in an interesting place when it comes to this.

While Minnesota is home to one of the 20 largest metropolitan areas in the entire country, it also holds a lot of remote destinations to escape the city.

While some people can manage to tune it out, the constant noise of human activity can wear on people. Besides being an annoyance, it can also have potentially negative health impacts.

Negative impacts of noise pollution

Harvard Medicine explains that studies suggest noise pollution can have a range of effects from sleep disturbances, stress, and mental health challenges to potentially contributing to things like cardiovascular issues and type 2 diabetes, the constant noise of humanity can have some pretty negative impacts.

While Minnesota's Twin Cities metropolitan area is the 16th largest in the United States with lots of traffic, construction, and more; there is thankfully quite a bit of space to escape.

That said, where does Minnesota rank when it comes to the loudest states in the country?

Where does Minnesota rank among the loudest states in the country?

Despite being home to one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country, Minnesota is actually a pretty quiet state. Anyone who lives in or has visited outstate Minnesota won't be surprised by this news.

READ MORE: Minnesota is among the top states for becoming a professional athlete

Whether we're talking about the sweeping prairie and farmland of southern and western Minnesota or the thick forests and lakes of northern Minnesota, there are plenty of spaces to "get away from it all".

Get our free mobile app

A study that used a whole variety of factors from population density to flight and vehicular traffic, household sizes, construction, and other criteria found that Minnesota is actually the second-quietest state in the whole country.

Yep, even more so than neighboring states like South and North Dakota or Iowa.

Alaska, unsurprisingly comes in as the quietest state in the country, but Minnesota follows up. Here's a look at the 10 quietest states:

1. Alaska
2. Minnesota
3. Montana
4. North Dakota
5. Kansas
6. Nebraska
7. Iowa
8. Vermont
9. Wyoming
10. South Dakota

I'll admit, I am kind of surprised by these results.

While I've explored plenty of the places that make Minnesota a quiet and enjoyable place, I've also seen many of the other states on this list. Many of them have a lot of wide-open spaces and remote places with not much between. I would have guessed even more than Minnesota, but I guess I'm wrong.

One thing that isn't accounted for in this study that I know some people would cynically point out that live in or visit Minnesota's vacation country is this - recreational noise.

The sound of wave runners, boats, and snowmobiles aren't factored into this study. I personally know several people who live near lakes who complain about the constant buzzing noise of jet skis and wakeboarding boats in the summer months that might disagree with this assessment.