Why Excelsior Is Minnesota's Most Expensive City To Live In

If you’ve noticed your wallet feeling a little lighter lately, you’re not alone-- especially if you live in this city. A new report just revealed which Minnesota municipality now holds the title of the most expensive place to live in 2025.

No matter where in the North Star State you call home, there are just some costs you always have to pay, right? But if you're looking to save some money, you likely don't want to live in this city, because it's now been ranked as the priciest place to live in the entire Gopher State.

Unless you own your home outright, you probably have a mortgage or rent payment you diligently pay each month. Then there are utility bills, taxes, insurance, and other costs most of us pay each month as well, all of which eat up a healthy portion of our income.

But some of those costs can vary greatly depending on just where in Minnesota you reside. And a new survey has just shed some light on which city now has the highest monthly bills and is the most expensive in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

The crew over at doxo just released their 2025 Cost of Bills Index (COBI) Report. It looks at the cost of the ten most common household bill categories (Utilities, Cable & Phone, Mobile Phone, Auto Loans, Auto Insurance, Life Insurance, Health Insurance, Alarm & Security, Rent, and Mortgage) and provides a standard comparison index for the most fundamental expenses that make up the cost of living.

ALSO INTERESTING: 6 MN Cities Where the Average Home Price Is Now $1 Million

And after crunching all the numbers and comparing all the statistics, doxo has come up with the Most Expensive City in Minnesota. It's a city where the COBI index is a whopping 46% higher than the national average!

If you live in Minnesota's Most Expensive City, you pay $37,129 a year in household bills, which is $3,094 a month. Those figures are also $11,616 higher than the national average in the U.S. and represent 24% of the average home's income of $156,308.

Which city is it? Congratulations to Excelsior, a city in the southwest Twin Cities metro, in Hennepin County on Lake Minnetonka. Doxo says it is Minnesota's Most Expensive City, based on the 2025 COBI index.

The Port of Excelsior on Lake Minnetonka (Google Street View)

Check out these other facts that make Excelsior Minnesota's Most Expensive City, according to doxo:

Average monthly mortgage payment: $2,827 (over twice the national average)
Average monthly rent payment: $1,171
Average monthly utility bills: $360
Average monthly health insurance: $136

Get our free mobile app

On the other end of the spectrum, doxo says Aitkin, in northern Minnesota, a little northeast of Brainerd, has the least expensive monthly bills, coming in at just $1,558. Worthington, Albert Lea, Fairmont, and Marshall round out the list of cities in Minnesota with the lowest monthly payments.

And we don't have the information to verify, we're going to guess the monthly payments would be pretty hefty on this enormous castle-like home in here in the Bold North. Keep scrolling to check it out!

Here is the list of the 10 Most Expensive Cities in Minnesota, according to their total average monthly bills from doxo's 2025 COBI report.

1) Excelsior - $3,094

2) Lakeville - $3,093

3) Wayzata - $3,054

4) Stillwater - $2,843

5) Shakopee - $2,778

6) Rogers - $2,769

7) Prior Lake - $2,750

8) Chanhassen - $2,731

9) Minnetonka - $2,669

10) Savage - $2,619