Which Minnesota counties score best for off-grid living?

Of the 86 Minnesota counties we have scored, Faribault County scores highest at 89 and Clearwater County lowest at 76. Minnesota ranks 31st of 50 overall, at 83 out of 100 (Good with caveats). Buildability separates its counties most: 4 to 10 out of 10.

Updated 2026-09-27 · 86 counties · 437 spots of private rural land scored

Good with caveatsMinnesota ranks 31st of 50, 83 out of 100, in the Best States ranking: the typical parcel on the state's private rural land, with each scored spot weighted by the land it stands for. On a fresh draw of counties it would rank between #30 and #33. City counties with little private rural land have no page, and any parcel can be scored, free, below.

Every scored county in Minnesota, best score first

Find a county86 counties


Faribault → 20 people / sq mi	89	22	20	11	14	13	9
Jackson → 14 people / sq mi	89	21	20	12	14	13	9
Watonwan → 26 people / sq mi	89	21	20	12	14	13	9
Chisago → 141 people / sq mi	88	21	20	11	14	13	9
Dakota → 795 people / sq mi	88	21	20	11	14	13	9
Dodge → 48 people / sq mi	88	22	20	11	13	13	9
Fillmore → 25 people / sq mi	88	21	20	11	14	13	9
Martin → 28 people / sq mi	88	21	20	12	14	12	9
Murray → 11 people / sq mi	88	21	20	12	13	13	9
Renville → 15 people / sq mi	88	21	20	11	14	13	9
Rice → 137 people / sq mi	88	21	20	11	14	13	9
Washington → 725 people / sq mi	88	21	20	11	14	13	9
Blue Earth → 94 people / sq mi	87	21	20	11	14	12	9
Brown → 42 people / sq mi	87	21	20	11	14	12	9
Freeborn → 43 people / sq mi	87	22	20	11	14	11	9
Goodhue → 64 people / sq mi	87	20	20	11	14	13	9
Hennepin → 2272 people / sq mi	87	21	19	11	13	14	9
Houston → 34 people / sq mi	87	20	20	12	14	12	9
McLeod → 75 people / sq mi	87	21	20	11	14	12	9
Meeker → 39 people / sq mi	87	21	20	11	14	12	9
Nicollet → 76 people / sq mi	87	21	20	11	14	12	9
Olmsted → 252 people / sq mi	87	20	20	11	14	13	9
Rock → 20 people / sq mi	87	19	20	12	14	13	9
Sibley → 26 people / sq mi	87	21	20	11	14	12	9
Stearns → 120 people / sq mi	87	20	20	11	14	13	9
Steele → 87 people / sq mi	87	22	20	11	13	12	9
Wabasha → 42 people / sq mi	87	22	20	11	14	12	8
Waseca → 45 people / sq mi	87	22	20	11	13	12	9
Wright → 229 people / sq mi	87	21	20	11	14	12	9
Carver → 314 people / sq mi	86	21	20	11	13	13	8
Cottonwood → 18 people / sq mi	86	21	19	12	13	12	9
Douglas → 63 people / sq mi	86	20	20	11	14	11	10
Kandiyohi → 55 people / sq mi	86	20	20	10	14	13	9
Lac qui Parle → 9 people / sq mi	86	20	20	11	14	12	9
Le Sueur → 65 people / sq mi	86	21	20	11	13	12	9
Lincoln → 10 people / sq mi	86	20	19	12	14	12	9
Nobles → 30 people / sq mi	86	21	20	12	13	11	9
Otter Tail → 31 people / sq mi	86	20	20	10	14	12	10
Pine → 21 people / sq mi	86	21	19	11	14	11	10
Redwood → 17 people / sq mi	86	21	20	11	13	12	9
Scott → 438 people / sq mi	86	21	20	11	14	12	8
Sherburne → 236 people / sq mi	86	21	20	11	14	12	8
Swift → 13 people / sq mi	86	20	20	11	14	12	9
Yellow Medicine → 13 people / sq mi	86	20	20	11	14	12	9
Benton → 102 people / sq mi	85	20	20	11	14	11	9
Chippewa → 21 people / sq mi	85	20	20	11	14	11	9
Itasca → 17 people / sq mi	85	20	20	10	14	12	9
Lyon → 36 people / sq mi	85	20	20	11	13	12	9
Pipestone → 20 people / sq mi	85	17	20	12	14	13	9
Pope → 17 people / sq mi	85	20	20	11	14	11	9
Stevens → 17 people / sq mi	85	20	19	11	14	12	9
Todd → 27 people / sq mi	85	20	20	10	14	12	9
Aitkin → 9 people / sq mi	84	21	19	10	14	11	9
Anoka → 883 people / sq mi	84	21	19	11	13	12	8
Crow Wing → 68 people / sq mi	84	20	20	10	13	11	10
Grant → 11 people / sq mi	84	20	20	10	14	10	10
Hubbard → 24 people / sq mi	84	20	20	10	14	11	9
Isanti → 99 people / sq mi	84	21	20	11	13	10	9
Kanabec → 32 people / sq mi	84	21	20	11	14	11	7
Wilkin → 8 people / sq mi	84	20	20	10	14	11	9
Carlton → 43 people / sq mi	83	21	20	10	13	11	8
Cass → 16 people / sq mi	83	20	19	10	14	11	9
Mille Lacs → 48 people / sq mi	83	21	17	11	14	11	9
Mower → 56 people / sq mi	83	20	20	11	14	11	7
Winona → 79 people / sq mi	83	22	20	12	14	11	4
Big Stone → 10 people / sq mi	82	20	20	10	14	10	8
Traverse → 6 people / sq mi	82	19	20	10	14	10	9
Becker → 27 people / sq mi	81	20	19	10	14	9	9
Clay → 63 people / sq mi	81	20	20	9	14	9	9
Mahnomen → 10 people / sq mi	81	20	20	9	13	10	9
Wadena → 27 people / sq mi	81	20	20	10	13	9	9
Morrison → 30 people / sq mi	80	20	20	10	12	11	7
Pennington → 22 people / sq mi	79	19	20	9	14	8	9
Red Lake → 9 people / sq mi	79	19	20	9	14	8	9
Roseau → 9 people / sq mi	79	20	20	8	14	8	9
Cook → 4 people / sq mi	78	21	19	9	13	9	7
Koochiching → 4 people / sq mi	78	20	19	9	14	9	7
Lake of the Woods → 3 people / sq mi	78	20	19	9	14	9	7
Norman → 7 people / sq mi	78	19	20	9	14	9	7
Polk → 15 people / sq mi	78	18	20	9	14	8	9
St. Louis → 32 people / sq mi	78	20	19	9	14	9	7
Kittson → 4 people / sq mi	77	19	20	9	14	8	7
Lake → 5 people / sq mi	77	21	17	9	14	10	6
Marshall → 5 people / sq mi	77	19	20	9	13	8	8
Beltrami → 19 people / sq mi	76	20	18	9	14	8	7
Clearwater → 9 people / sq mi	76	20	19	9	11	9	8

Score is out of 100: Water 25, Legal 20, Solar 15, Hazard 15, Food 15, Buildability 10. Green cells score 80% or better of their maximum; amber cells under 70%.

Where the good land is

70% of Minnesota's private rural land scores Good with caveats or better (80 or more). The strongest counties are Faribault, Jackson and Watonwan. The weakest are Beltrami, Clearwater and Kittson. Where the land falls short, it is most often on energy (sun, and heating and cooling needs) and growing food (season, soil and water for crops).

What separates them

Buildability: Douglas County scores 10 of 10, Winona County 4. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide.
Food: Hennepin County scores 14 of 15, Beltrami County 8. Soil quality, frost-free growing days, and rainfall: what decides whether you can actually feed yourself and your animals.
Solar: Jackson County scores 12 of 15, Roseau County 8. Year-round solar potential, including the darkest month, and how much energy it takes to heat and cool a house there. Matters most if you're fully off-grid.
Water: Faribault County scores 22 of 25, Pipestone County 17. Drinking, system, and irrigation water, the #1 reason off-grid and homestead plans collapse. A low score means a deep, costly well or hauled water.
Hazard: Faribault County scores 14 of 15, Clearwater County 11. Flood, wildfire, seismic, and severe-weather exposure: the risks that raise insurance and build cost or strand a parcel.
Legal: Faribault County scores 20 of 20, Lake County 17. Whether you can reach the land and live on it: road access, distance to emergency care, internet and cell, and how built up the area is, which decides how many lot-size, livestock, and zoning rules you will meet.

The state's soft spot

Solar is Minnesota's weakest dimension, at 10 of 15 for the state as a whole. Year-round solar potential, including the darkest month, and how much energy it takes to heat and cool a house there. Matters most if you're fully off-grid. Getting a parcel here off-grid runs $32k to $99k by our estimates across these counties, before the house. The full Minnesota row in the Best States ranking has the state-wide spread and how the popular off-grid guides rank it.

Check a Minnesota parcel, or plan the one you own

Get a free 0-100 off-grid score.

Before you buy in Minnesota

The scores read the physical land. Whether you may legally live on it is a separate question, and it changes at the county line: Is it legal to live off-grid in Minnesota? covers zoning, building code, septic, and wells for the state, with the counties that opt out. For the reason water carries a quarter of the score, how you get water on off-grid land is the read. And the five-point check is the order to do it in.

Good with caveatsMinnesota: 83 of 100, 31st of 50. A good state is not a good parcel. Score the one you are looking at, free, in about a minute.

Score a parcel free →