What is the cost of living in St. Cloud?

St. Cloud has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) of 87.6, where 100 represents the national average. Housing costs index at 65.1, which is below the national average. The average 2-bedroom rent is $1,206/month.

What is the median salary in St. Cloud?

The median salary in St. Cloud is $72,671 annually (mean: $75,131). Top occupations include Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Registered Nurses, Retail Salespersons.

How safe is St. Cloud?

The violent crime rate in the St. Cloud area is 259 per 100,000 population (state-level data). Property crime rate is 1625 per 100K.

What are the schools like in St. Cloud?

The state of MN has 2,391 schools (state-level data, no metro-level federal count exists) with an average student-teacher ratio of 13.9:1. About 38.1% are Title I schools. Charter schools make up 11.9% of all schools.

How much does childcare cost in St. Cloud?

Infant center-based childcare in the St. Cloud area averages $11,722 per year. Preschool averages $9,850/year. These are state-level averages.

Is St. Cloud a good place to relocate?

St. Cloud has a Life Score of 62.7/100 (C), based on 7 of 7 available dimensions among cost of living, wages, rent, crime, schools, childcare, and environment (missing dims omitted, weights renormalized). This places St. Cloud in the top decile of scored metros, a genuinely strong all-around profile.

Where does St. Cloud sit among US metros on LiveAbility?

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite, St. Cloud ranks #40 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). That ordinal matches the /rankings/livability listing. See /methodology#corpus-placement for the exact sort basis.

Relocation profile · Federal data

St. Cloud, MN

LiveAbility 61.3/100 places St. Cloud #40 of 387 (top third of scored metros).

Compiled by PlainRelocate · June 15, 2026

87.6
Cost index (US=100): $1,206
2BR rent / mo: $72,671
Median salary: 61.3
LiveAbility Score

The verdict

As of June 2026, St. Cloud ranks #40 of 387 US metros on the LiveAbility Score (61.3/100), with its strongest marks in cost of living and job market.

#40
of 387 US metros · Excellent: 5,793,151
metro-area population: 259
violent crimes per 100K (state-level): 2,391
schools in the state (NCES)

Weakest dimension: climate (10/100). Weigh every dimension against your own priorities, use the City Finder to re-rank by what matters to you.

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite (BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, EPA, NOAA, and FEMA inputs), St. Cloud ranks #40 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). Cost-of-living index 87.6 (100 = national average), median 2-bedroom rent $1,206/mo, median salary $72,671; LiveAbility Score 61.3/100, strongest in cost of living and job market.

Signature: LiveAbility 61.3/100 places St. Cloud #40 of 387 (top third of scored metros).

Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP 87.6 lands in the cheaper third of scored metros (cuts at 91.5 / 97.0). Median 2BR rent $1,206/mo.

LiveAbility 61.3/100 puts St. Cloud in the top third (#40 of 387).

BLS OEWS total employment in the St. Cloud area is 96,960.

St. Cloud vs all US metros by LiveAbility Score

Where this metro's LiveAbility Score falls among every scored US metro (composite placement, not a desirability verdict)

61 Top 10% higher than 90% of 387 US metros

Metros banded by LiveAbility Score (0–100)

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source PlainRelocate LiveAbility Score · June 2026

St. Cloud housing and rent

HUD Fair Market Rents for the St. Cloud MSA; housing RPP 65.1 (100 = national average); 2BR $1,206/mo.

Studio

$874

/month

1 Bedroom

$919

/month

2 Bedroom

$1,206

/month

3 Bedroom

$1,604

/month

4 Bedroom

$1,873

/month

St. Cloud wages and employment

St. Cloud posts 96,960 total employment with median salary $72,671 against a cheaper-than-average RPP.

Median Salary

$72,671

Mean Salary

$75,131

Total Employment

96,960

Top Occupations by Employment

Occupation	Median Salary
Home Health and Personal Care Aides	$37,100
Registered Nurses	$105,290
Retail Salespersons	$34,860
Cashiers	$32,480
General and Operations Managers	$89,700

Schools & Education

State-level education data for the St. Cloud area from NCES.

Schools

2,391

Enrollment

872,336

Student:Teacher

13.9:1

Title I %

38.1%

Childcare Costs

State-average childcare costs for the St. Cloud area (DOL data).

Infant (Center)

$11,722

per year

Toddler (Center)

$10,737

per year

Preschool (Center)

$9,850

per year

Life Score Breakdown

St. Cloud's composite Life Score is 62.7/100 (C), computed across 7 of 7 dimensions.

Cost

90/100

Elite

Wages

75/100

Strong

Rent

63/100

Above average

Crime

65/100

Strong

Schools

54/100

Average

Childcare

34/100

Weak

Environment

19/100

Bottom decile

LiveAbility Score

View full rankings →

St. Cloud ranks #40 out of 387 metros with a LiveAbility Score of 61.3/100 - a composite of 8 of 8 quality-of-life dimensions from federal data. Customize the weights to match your priorities →

Strongest dimension: Cost of living (90/100)

Cost of living

90
Job market

75
Air quality

75
Safety

65
Housing

63
Schools

46
Low hazard

30
Climate

10

What this shows St. Cloud's strongest dimensions are cost of living and job market; its weakest among scored dims is climate at 10/100. Default weights: cost 18%, jobs & housing 15% each, safety & schools 12%, air & hazard 10%, climate 8%.

Compare St. Cloud to

Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler Pinehurst-Southern Pines Pittsburgh Pittsfield Pocatello Port St. Lucie

Metros near St. Cloud on cost, LiveAbility, or wages

Nearest out-of-state neighbors to St. Cloud on BEA RPP, LiveAbility, or BLS median salary, a different lens than the size-ranked list.

Similar cost of living (BEA RPP)

Similar LiveAbility score

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA June 2026

St. Cloud cost figures follow BEA Regional Price Parities and HUD Fair Market Rents; St. Cloud wages and LiveAbility inputs follow BLS OEWS plus the federal sources listed in methodology. This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Scores are federal-data percentiles, not a move recommendation. How this data is sourced.

Verify with BEA → · Verify with BLS → · Verify with HUD → · Verify with NOAA → · Verify with FEMA → · Verify with Census →

Considering St. Cloud as your next city?

On the federal data, St. Cloud shows a $72,671 median salary, an 87.6 cost index and a LiveAbility rank of #40 of 387.

Run St. Cloud's pay and cost figures against your own budget. Salary calculator
Line St. Cloud up against another city, dimension by dimension. Compare St. Cloud
Abilene is the nearest related metro in this corpus, and the two are easy to compare. Abilene profile
Cost and LiveAbility do not always agree, and the guide explains how to weigh the trade-off between them. Cost vs quality guide

Federal-data percentiles for cost, salary and score; they are not a recommendation to move.