Winnipeg vs Minneapolis: A Comparison (Information supplied on this topic is from experience only, and in no way reflects policies, regulations, or laws from either Canada, USA, Manitoba, or Minnesota)

General:
Information gathered on this page has been supplied by Places Rated Almanac.  This book provides an unbiased rating from everything from sports to education.  Information is current as of 1997.  Data supplied is deemed accurate, but may be subject to error.   Grey shaded areas indicate "Top 35" out of the 351 metro areas rated.  (Note how many "Top 35" areas Minneapolis has!).  Higher scores are better, except for the "Overall Ranking" score.  Items are scored from 0 to 100, and ranked from 1st to 351st (or last).  Please see the legend below for detailed information on each item.

* - Includes Minneapolis, St. Paul, and the following counties: Anoka, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin, Scott,
Sherburne, Washington, and Wright from Minnesota.  Pierce and St. Croix counties from Wisconsin.
This effectively includes all suburbs/cities of the Twin Cities area.
** - Bursaries and scholarships are awarded to approximately 40% of all students attending college or
university in the USA, compared to 1.5% of Canadian students, thus dramatically lowering this figure

Cost of Living Factors: 
Nine factors are weighted according to their relative importance in a typical four-person household's budget: (1) state/provincial income taxes, (2) state/provincial and local taxes, (3) property taxes, (4) home mortgage, (5) utilities, (6) food, (7) health care cost, (8) transportation,   and (9) other.  The sum of these weighted indexes is then normalized such that the 50th percentile is the average for all metro areas.  Lower scores indicate more expensive metro areas.  Higher scores  indicate less expensive areas.   From the above table, Winnipeg has a slightly higher cost of living than Minneapolis.  Sales taxes are exempt for all food and clothing  in Minnesota.  Sales taxes are exempt for most foods in Manitoba.

Transportation: 
 Three broad criteria are used to rate each metro area for transportation: (1) its supply of public transit, (2) its connectivity with other metro areas via national highways, scheduled air service, and passenger rail service, and (3) its centrality, or relative nearness to all other metro areas.  From the above table, Minneapolis is ranked 14th (extremely good), Winnipeg is ranked 48th (still well above average) of the 351 metro areas ranked.  Daily commute average in Minneapolis is 45.0 minutes, and in Winnipeg is 41.2 minutes - virtually the same.  The big difference in Minneapolis is that your commute to the office is at 70 MPH non-stop on freeways, and in Winnipeg is stop and go at 30 MPH.   Due to the cost of gasoline, your commute in Minneapolis is about half the cost compared to Winnipeg.

Jobs:  
In ranking the 351 metro areas, two criteria are used: (1) the percent increase in new jobs by the year 2000, and (2) the total number of new jobs created between now and that date.  0 is worst, 100 is best.  State and city unemployment levels are also factored in.  Minneapolis is ranked 6th best, Winnipeg is ranked 241st (tenth from last place!).  This is where Minneapolis shines.   Currently (November 1998), the state unemployment level is 2%, and the Minneapolis and surrounding areas is less than 1%.  People working at McDonald's here are making $9-$10 per hour due to the high competition for labor.  Minneapolis wins hands down.   The Job growth rate for Minneapolis is currently at 16.0%.  Winnipeg is virtually non-existent at 0.6%.

Education:  
The following criteria are used to rate a metro area for higher education: (1) enrollment in community or two-year colleges, (2) enrollment in baccalaureate-level institutions, (3) enrollment in comprehensive institutions, and (4) enrollment in doctoral-level institutions.  Both public and private run institutions are considered equally.  Cost factors are not considered.  Minneapolis is ranked 23rd, Winnipeg 147th.  As Canada does not use SAT scores, a comment can not be made here about a comparison against other states vs Winnipeg.  However, one of the primary factors for Minneapolis being ranked so high is because of the SAT (Standard Achievement Test) scores recorded by high school students in grade 12.  Minnesota scored a 506 for its Language/Verbal Score, and 579 for its Mathematics score.  Only North Dakota beat Minnesota (they scored 592) for its Mathematics score.  The public school system in Minneapolis continuously wins awards.  The high school in Eden Prairie (a suburb of Minneapolis) was rated #1 in the entire USA!  14 schools in the Minneapolis area have received awards since 1990 for Excellence in Education.  More students from grade 12 proceed to college or university in Minneapolis than any other city in North America.

Climate:  
Three factors are used, (1) mildness, (2) brightness, and (3) stability (i.e. lack of earthquakes, hurricanes, etc).  Well, we all know why both Winnipeg and Minneapolis scored low here.  But guess what?  Winnipeg scored dead last at 351.  Summers in the Twin Cities are about 5C degrees warmer than Winnipeg, and the winters area about 10C degrees warmer.  Both Winnipeg and Minneapolis area even on snowfall, but the snow only stays on the ground until the beginning of March in Minneapolis.  Broken down, Minneapolis scored the following: Mildness: 4, Brightness: 66, Stability: 37.  Winnipeg scored Mildness: 0, Brightness: 86, Stability: 57.  Click here for detailed climate graphs comparing both cities.

Shown below are the current weather conditions for the Twin Cities, MN and Winnipeg, MB.  You can click on either graphic to display detailed weather information and forecasts.

Crime:  
In ranking each metro area for relative safety, two numbers are considered: (1) its violent crime rate and (2) its property crime rate divided by 10.  The higher the score, the safer the metro area.  Winnipeg was ranked 244th, and Minneapolis 144th.  Figures were compiled from the FBI and the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics in Ottawa.

Arts:  
Fourteen data elements, including ballet, opera, symphony, theater, and art museums are included.  Both Winnipeg and Minneapolis scored relatively high.  Minneapolis was rated 13th of 351 metro centres.

Health Care:  
Five per capita criteria are used to rate the supply of health care: (1) general/family practitioners, (2) medical specialists, (3) surgical specialists, (4) short-term, general hospital beds, and (5) hospitals with physician teaching programs certified by the AMA or Association of Canadian Teaching Hospitals.  Winnipeg ranked 43rd, while Minneapolis ranked 21st.   Both are very close.  However, there is one important factor which is unfortunately not included in these rankings - the ability to receive health care services in a timely manner.  We believe Winnipeg (and many other Canadian cities) are failing miserably in this area.  Example:  One may wait anywhere from 3 to 4 months to get a CT scan in Winnipeg - or next day in Minneapolis.

I am not going to pretend to be a health care specialists but from the Winnipegers that I have spoken to, plus my own first hand experiences, the health care provided in Minneapolis is like night and day compared to Canada - services are immediate, and completed with the latest technology.  Health care, as most Canadians know, is a provided government service (for the most part) in Canada.  Good health care is private in the USA.  It would probably be an accurate statement to say that for any employment position that a Canadian is considering in the USA, that company will have a health plans that should meet or exceed any and all of your health care needs.  The chart below represents ratings at of 1996.

*- Canadians spend $2,700 US$ on health care, per capita (in direct or
indirect payments via taxation), while Americans spend $3,600 per capita.

Recreation:  
Twelve criteria are used to derive a metro area's score for recreation.  They are divided into three main factors: (1) bigness, (2) recreation land, and (3) golf, movies, and good food per capita.  (Note:  This terminology was not mine, but that of Places Rate Almanac!).  Minneapolis was rated 12, Winnipeg 124.  However, from my own personal experiences, I would rate the two cities to be more equal than this ranking represents.  Unfortunately, Winnipeg lost the NHL Jets, and Minneapolis will be icing an NHL team for the 1999-2000 season.  Minneapolis and surrounding area is a snow mobiler's paradise, will rolling hills everywhere.  Due to the larger Minneapolis population, they are able to keep major league teams for all major sports, including NFL football, NBA basketball, AL baseball, NHL hockey (soon to come!).  Like Winnipeg, there are an abundance of golf courses in the Twin Cities area - 2,160 holes compared to Winnipeg's 288.

Mean Score:  
Minneapolis was rated, despite a climate that brings cold winters, 6th out of the 351 metro areas rated.  There is a good reason for this.   Minneapolis is one of the fastest growing large metro areas in all of USA and Canada, which has a job growth which is currently exceeding its population growth.   The general population of the Twin Cities has more high school graduates than any state or province, and more of those graduates pursue a college or university education - which results in a highly educated and skilled workforce.

I enjoyed compiling this information, and writing the legend portion of this page.   I welcome your comments at .  For those of you would would like to order your own copy of Places Rated Almanac, here is the information you need.  Most book stores will order it for you when you provide the title and ISBN number.