Welcome to West St. Paul!

If you’re new to West St. Paul, welcome! We’d love to help you learn a little more about your new neighborhood.

Quick Facts

The city is five square miles.
Population: 20,615 (2020 Census)
Median income: $57,000
West Side vs. West St. Paul: West St. Paul is its own city, while the West Side is a neighborhood of St. Paul. Annapolis Street is the primary dividing line (except for Forty Acres).

Snow plowing: We’re proud of our snow plowing in West St. Paul, but do yourself a favor and pay attention to snow emergencies so you can move your vehicle and avoid being towed.
Library: Wentworth Library is part of the Dakota County Library system and located on Wentworth Avenue.
Parks: Find your local parks—check out the splash pad at Harmon Park and the city pool as good ways to beat the heat. Don’t forget to check out Dodge Nature Center (no dogs or bikes on trails) and the River-to-River Greenway trail. You can also visit the top 5 nature trails in West St. Paul.
Local dining: See our food reviews for the best eats in West St. Paul.
Permits & licensing: Need a permit or a pet license? (Note: The city limits you to three dogs or cats (and six hens!)
Code violations: The city lists some common code violations you may want to be aware of.

City: The City of West St. Paul is represented by a six-member City Council and mayor. We have a weak-mayor system where the city manager actually runs the city and is accountable to the City Council and mayor. The city is divided into three wards with two council members representing each ward (see the ward map). Here’s our guide to attending City Council meetings.
County: West St. Paul is in Dakota County and represented by county commissioners from seven districts—we’re in District 2.
State legislature: West St. Paul is divided into two different legislative districts. The northern half of West St. Paul (roughly north of Emerson) is in House District 65B while the southern half is in House District 53A.
School district: West St. Paul is in ISD 197 and represented by a seven-member school board. There are also a number of private and charter schools within West St. Paul.
Vote: We do extensive local election coverage, so look for our voter’s guide when it’s time to vote.

Albert Park: The smallest park in West St. Paul has a weird backstory of tragedy, typos, and tall tales.
Art Park: We recently installed a mosaic sculpture in our art park, a tiny park on the corner of Oakdale and Butler.
Medians: Robert Street, our main commercial thoroughfare, was redone in 2016-2017 including removing the left-turn lane and adding medians. People still love to complain about the addition of medians, despite the improved safety.
Chicken: People love to joke about an over-abundance of chicken restaurants in West St. Paul, but the reality is we have way more taco joints (7+) than chicken places (4).
Libraries: We love Little Free Libraries.
Song: We have our own unofficial theme song. It was created by local artist Carolyn Swiszcz, who also has a zine you should check out.
The mall: While Signal Hills ceased to be an enclosed mall by 2000, many people still fondly remember Signal Hills Shopping Center.