LookyLOO Review of Living in Eagan, Minnesota (2025 Guide)
Eagan, located in Dakota County just south of St. Paul, is one of Minnesota’s fastest-growing suburbs and a community very passionately celebrated for its residential quality of life. Seriously, locals love the mix of great suburban life and amazing outdoor recreation.
Eagan is increasingly recognized for its rare quality of affordability in a city with excellent schools and low-density, tree-lined blocks. It's kind of magical, so assume this won't last forever, and look to make the move.
Lifestyle in Eagan
If you’re drawn to outdoor recreation, Eagan delivers. The city borders Lebanon Hills Regional Park, offering trails and lakes on the urban edge. The Big Rivers Regional Trail also starts here, tracing former rail lines along the riverside.
Locals often highlight Eagan’s “urban-suburban mix” as a big selling factor. There is plenty of local dining and parks, but importantly for those craving it, you can get to both Minneapolis and St. Paul in 15-20 minutes.
Finally, community engagement is strong through local events and community experiences like Art House that serve kiddos and adults, and countless tight-knit neighborhood year-round activities.
Worklife in Eagan
Eagan supports a robust local economy with major regional employers like Thomson Reuters, Blue Cross Blue Shield, UPS, and ISD 196 (school district)
Corporate campuses and warehousing near I‑494 and I‑35E provide local job options, and commute times to downtown Minneapolis–St. Paul remains reasonable.
Schools in Eagan
Eagan is extremely valued for the quality of its schools. Even within the district, Eagan shines. For that reason, Eagan is featured in the LookyLOO Guide to Cities with the Best Public Schools in the U.S.
Eagan is served by three public school districts:
-ISD 196 (Rosemount‑Apple Valley‑Eagan), Minnesota’s 4th-largest district with four comprehensive high schools
-ISD 191 (Burnsville‑Eagan‑Savage) and ISD 197 (West St. Paul‑Mendota Heights‑Eagan) also cover smaller portions
Top-rated schools in Eagan include:
-Eagan High School, known for its fine arts, speech & debate excellence, and innovative tech integration (first fully-networked high school nationwide, now advanced with one-to-one iPad programs)
-Elementary standouts: Mendota Elementary, Dakota Hills Middle, Woodland and Glacier Hills Elementary schools earn top rankings. There are also reputable private school options in the area, including Trinity School at River Ridge (Classical Christian model, Blue Ribbon‐recognized)
Why Move to Eagan Now
This one is pretty simple:
1) Housing prices in the $300k-$450k range
combined with2) A rated public schools
combined with3) Amazing outdoor recreation
It's a tough combo to beat
Reviews of Living in Eagan MN, From Locals
KillerBeaArthur
10mo ago
🦉🦉🦉🦉
There's a pretty calm vibe here with a good mix of shopping and restaurant options—and with quick access to the highway system (35E, 494, Hwy 77, etc.) it's very easy to get anywhere pretty quickly (Minneapolis is 25 mins, St. Paul is about 20 mins). Eagan is also about a 10 min drive from Bloomington which has a lot of more shopping/restaurant options (Mall of America, IKEA, REI flagship, etc), which is convenient. Burnsville and Apple Valley are also close by to the south with additional options. If you're into football, there's the Vikings Lakes team training facility on the north side of town, close to Costco (my wife and I are definitely not into football LOL, but the restaurant at the hotel there is pretty good).
We have cool community stuff like the Art House (currently building a new facility, but you can take art classes there), a really nice community center (in the summer there's a weekly farmer's market, Eagan Art Fest, and other events held there), Wescott Library, Cascade Bay water park, a civic arena (I think they have a lot of hockey stuff there…we aren't into sports and don't have kids so we haven't been there), and the Dakota County parks system is top notch (Lebanon Hills is huge and has great hiking trails).
My wife and I moved here in 2015 (coming from southeast Wisconsin, up to Duluth for a couple years, then here), first renting at Alden Pond Townhomes (which are fine, but there have been a lot of newer apartment buildings that have gone up since then that might be better options). We bought a house on the south end of town in 2016 and love our neighborhood. This particular neighborhood near Cliff and Pilot Knob has a lot of younger families with kids moving in as older couples sell.
Like I said, we love the laid back vibe here and are close enough to everything the Twin Cities has to offer that it doesn't feel inconvenient.
For more reviews of what living in Eagan is like from locals, check out The Reviews. https://lookyloomove.com/locations/eagan/reviews
