Minnesota city guide
Moving From California to Edina, MN
An established, affluent inner-ring suburb of Minneapolis, and the metro's reference-point address for top schools and long-settled neighborhoods.
Housing comparison
California versus Edina, side by side
- Median home value
- $725,800
- $646,300
- Median annual property tax
- $5,114
- not available
- Median monthly cost, owners with a mortgage
- $2,844
- not available
- Population
- 39.0 million (state)
- 53,262
Figures are US Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 5-Year Estimates for the city place. Property tax and monthly cost rows cover owner-occupied units with a mortgage, so they describe what current owners pay, not what a new buyer would pay at today's prices. California column is the statewide baseline used across this site.
Why Californians look at Edina
Edina is the suburb other Twin Cities suburbs are measured against. It sits directly southwest of Minneapolis, its neighborhoods were largely built out from the 1920s through the 1960s, and it has held its position as the metro's most established, highest-priced large suburb for decades rather than being a newly built boomtown.
That reputation carries a price. Edina's median home value is well above the rest of the Twin Cities metro and above most of what a California seller might expect from a Midwest move, though it remains a fraction of coastal California prices for a comparable house and lot.
What buyers are paying for is consistency: a school district with a long track record, mature tree-lined streets, proximity to downtown Minneapolis, and a retail and dining core, the 50th and France district, that functions as a genuine walkable town center rather than a strip mall.
Edina fits you if
- You want the Twin Cities' most established, highest-reputation suburb and are prepared to pay for it.
- School quality and continuity matter more to you than getting the largest lot or newest construction for the price.
- You want a walkable retail and dining district, not just a subdivision, inside a suburban setting.
- You want quick access to downtown Minneapolis without living in the city itself.
Look elsewhere if
- You are working with a tight budget. Edina is priced at the top of the Twin Cities suburban market.
- You want new construction or large modern floor plans. Much of Edina's stock is 60 to 100 years old.
- You want Sun Belt weather. Edina has the same long, cold Minnesota winters as the rest of the metro.
- You want a quiet retirement town rather than an active, family-oriented suburb built around its schools.
Housing in Edina
Edina's neighborhoods split broadly into the older, architecturally distinct homes near Country Club and 50th and France, mid-century ranches and split-levels further south and west, and a smaller supply of newer construction and teardown-rebuilds on desirable lots.
The median home value of $646,300 is the highest among the six Minnesota cities profiled on this site and sits above the broader Twin Cities metro median. It remains well under the California statewide median, but buyers should not expect Rochester or Woodbury prices here.
Because Edina is largely built out, turnover depends on existing owners moving rather than new subdivisions opening up, and well-located homes in the top school attendance areas draw consistent competition.
Work and the local economy
Edina itself hosts a mix of corporate offices, medical and professional services, and the France Avenue and Southdale retail corridors, home to Southdale Center, widely credited as the first fully enclosed shopping mall in the United States.
Most residents commute into downtown Minneapolis or elsewhere in the metro for work rather than working locally in a single dominant industry, which gives Edina a broader and more stable employment base than a company town.
The Twin Cities metro overall has a diverse economy anchored by health care, finance, retail corporate headquarters, and manufacturing, and Edina residents draw on all of it rather than depending on any single local employer.
Climate and setting
Edina shares the Twin Cities' continental climate: cold, snowy winters typically running November into March, and warm, humid summers with real thunderstorm activity. There is no lake or coastal moderation here, only latitude and the built environment.
The suburb's mature tree canopy, planted over the past century, gives it a more shaded, established feel in summer than newer outer-ring suburbs, and it holds snow and ice on its narrower, older streets in ways that newer wide subdivision roads do not.
Residents who want outdoor recreation lean on the metro's chain of lakes and regional parks system rather than any dramatic terrain within Edina itself, which is flat to gently rolling.
Getting around, care, and schools
- Commercial air
- Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) is roughly 20 minutes away with extensive domestic and international service.
- Highways
- Interstate 494 and Highway 100 border or cross the city, with quick access to Interstate 35W.
- Hospital
- Fairview Southdale Hospital is located in Edina; broader specialty care is concentrated in Minneapolis.
- Public schools
- Edina Public Schools.
- Higher education
- No four-year university is located in Edina itself; the University of Minnesota's Twin Cities campus is a short drive into Minneapolis.
- Setting
- Flat to gently rolling inner-ring suburb directly southwest of downtown Minneapolis.
The trade-offs
- Home prices are the highest of the six Minnesota cities profiled here, well above the Twin Cities metro median.
- Much of the housing stock is decades old, so buyers wanting new construction will have fewer options than in outer-ring suburbs like Woodbury.
- Winters are the same long, cold Minnesota winters as the rest of the metro, with no local advantage.
- The suburb's reputation and demand mean less room to negotiate than in less established parts of the metro.
Other Minnesota towns people compare
Rochester
The Mayo Clinic anchors the strongest small-city job market in the Midwest, with a growing, internationally connected population of more than 120,000.
St. Louis Park
An inner-ring, walkable Minneapolis suburb that offers the same metro access as Edina at a meaningfully lower price.
Woodbury
A fast-growing east metro suburb of St. Paul with large lots, newer construction, and strong schools.
Duluth
A Lake Superior port city with dramatic hillside terrain, low housing costs, and the coldest, snowiest winters of any city on this list.
Northfield
A river town anchored by two nationally known colleges, offering small-town living within commuting range of the Twin Cities.
Statewide figures, tax detail, and the full Minnesota picture are on the Minnesota page. Compare property, income, and sales tax across all 49 destination states on Taxes, and see where Californians are actually moving on Stats.
Sources
- US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 5-Year Estimates, table B25077 (median home value), retrieved via Census Reporter, September 3, 2026.
- US Census Bureau, ACS 2020 to 2024 5-Year Estimates, table B25103 (median real estate taxes paid, owner-occupied units with a mortgage), retrieved September 3, 2026.
- US Census Bureau, ACS 2020 to 2024 5-Year Estimates, table B25088 (median selected monthly owner costs, owner-occupied units with a mortgage), retrieved September 3, 2026.
- US Census Bureau, ACS 2020 to 2024 5-Year Estimates, table B01003 (total population), retrieved September 3, 2026.
- Data USA, Edina, MN profile, datausa.io.
- Census Reporter, Edina, MN profile, censusreporter.org.
- Fairview Southdale Hospital facility information, fairview.org.
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