The Truth About Minnesota’s Richest Small Town

Nestled 10 miles north of St Paul is Minnesota's richest small town (between 500 and 15,000 households). I've never even heard of this place, probably because I can't afford to even know about it, let alone live there.

North Oaks has been named Minnesota's richest small town by Go Banking Rates (again, too poor to have even heard of that website). The median income for North Oaks residents is $220,861. MEDIAN. In other words, half of the town's population makes more than that.

That's a lotta dough.

North Oaks, MN

That's...about the best view I can get on Google Street View. North Oaks is a private town (shocker!) and has zero images from GSV to peruse. That's because in 2008 the North Oaks Home Owners Association (NOHOA) requested that Google remove the pictures, stating it violated their trespassing ordinance (again, it's a private town).

Let's try a different angle...

North Oaks surrounds Pleasant Lake and was originally purchased by James Jerome Hill in 1883 as a 5,000-acre agricultural research farm. Eventually ownership was transferred to his son Louis, whose kids took over upon his death in 1950 and developed the land into a "model residential community". K.

What's odd about land ownership in North Oaks is property lines - typically ending at city sidewalks - are extended halfway into the street, making all of the roads private and photo-blocking Google Street View from letting us travel there (digitally) vicariously.

Let's peruse elsewhere...