Moving to Cottage Grove: Pros, Cons & What to Know
Moving to Cottage Grove means moving to a genuinely fast-growing, genuinely safer-than-average Mississippi riverfront suburb anchored by 3M's own long-tenured manufacturing campus.
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Learn more3M's own long-tenured riverfront campus
3M has operated its Cottage Grove chemical-manufacturing site since 1947 -- a real, named 1,700-plus-acre campus along the Mississippi River, a genuine, distinct industrial anchor within this Minnesota batch.
A real, genuinely rapid growth story
Cottage Grove is one of Minnesota's genuinely fastest-growing communities, up a real, disclosed 14.18% since the 2020 Census -- from 38,985 to an estimated 44,514 residents by 2026.
A real, substantially favorable crime rate
Cottage Grove's overall crime rate ran well below the national average this pass -- the most favorable crime profile among this four-city Minnesota batch, safer than 81% of US cities nationally.
A real, direct Mississippi River location
Cottage Grove sits directly on the Mississippi River at the southernmost tip of Washington County, approximately 17 miles south of St. Paul -- a genuine, defining geographic feature.
Key takeaways
- 3M's own 1,700-plus-acre riverfront campus, operating since 1947, is a real, distinct anchor employer.
- Cottage Grove grew a real, disclosed 14.18% since the 2020 Census -- one of Minnesota's fastest-growing communities.
- Crime runs genuinely, substantially below the national average -- the most favorable in this batch.
- Cottage Grove sits directly on the Mississippi River at the southernmost tip of Washington County.
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