Best cities for sports in Minnesota

BookrGo Best Sport Cities ranking: we rank the cities of Minnesota by their 0-10 sports score, which combines density of centers per resident, variety of sports, listing quality and real activity. To keep the comparison fair, we measure every city's offering with the same sources of national coverage. An honest way to see where it's easiest (and hardest) to find somewhere to play.

330 scorable cities in Minnesota.

#	City	Score /10	Centers
1	Alexandria	8.7	83
2	Stillwater	8.6	78
3	Bemidji	8.5	87
4	Edina	8.4	172
5	Wayzata	8.4	46
6	Grand Rapids	8.4	43
7	Hastings	8.3	44
8	Mankato	8.2	126
9	Brainerd	8.2	59
10	Rogers	8.2	42
11	Medina	8.2	27
12	Eagan	8.1	139
13	Chanhassen	8.1	72
14	Forest Lake	8.1	56
15	New Ulm	8.1	43
16	Little Canada	8.1	33
17	Isanti	8.1	20
18	Duluth	8.0	270
19	Apple Valley	8.0	112
20	Winona	8.0	89
21	White Bear Lake	7.9	73
22	Red Wing	7.9	67
23	Owatonna	7.9	60
24	Cloquet	7.9	33
25	New Prague	7.9	25
26	Woodbury	7.8	148
27	Moorhead	7.8	101
28	Northfield	7.8	80
29	St. Cloud	7.8	72
30	Fergus Falls	7.8	49
31	Willmar	7.8	46
32	Faribault	7.8	43
33	Hibbing	7.8	42
34	Oak Park Heights	7.8	21
35	Glencoe	7.8	16
36	Maple Grove	7.7	125
37	Golden Valley	7.7	44
38	Hutchinson	7.7	42
39	Eden Prairie	7.6	224
40	Coon Rapids	7.6	79
41	Prior Lake	7.6	48
42	Albert Lea	7.6	46
43	Waseca	7.6	23
44	Carlton	7.6	11
45	Rochester	7.5	227
46	Minnetonka	7.5	145
47	Lino Lakes	7.5	41
48	Pequot Lakes	7.5	27
49	Virginia	7.5	26
50	Baxter	7.5	22
51	Mendota Heights	7.4	33
52	Champlin	7.4	28
53	New Brighton	7.4	27
54	Little Falls	7.4	23
55	St. Peter	7.4	20
56	Ely	7.4	16
57	Slayton	7.4	12
58	Lakeville	7.3	125
59	Hopkins	7.3	85
60	Anoka	7.3	41
61	Waite Park	7.3	37
62	Marshall	7.3	31
63	Cannon Falls	7.3	26
64	Falcon Heights	7.3	21
65	Hermantown	7.3	21
66	Roseau	7.3	18
67	Sandstone	7.3	11
68	Minneapolis	7.2	1308
69	Bloomington	7.2	183
70	Shakopee	7.2	111
71	Elk River	7.2	63
72	West St. Paul	7.2	24
73	Detroit Lakes	7.1	61
74	Rosemount	7.1	57
75	Monticello	7.1	53
76	Farmington	7.1	29
77	Spicer	7.1	10
78	Bagley	7.1	8
79	St. Paul	7.0	256
80	Plymouth	7.0	133
81	Maplewood	7.0	62
82	Cottage Grove	7.0	53
83	Savage	7.0	46
84	Sartell	7.0	31
85	North Branch	7.0	30
86	Waconia	7.0	25
87	Byron	7.0	16
88	Sauk Centre	7.0	16
89	Lindstrom	7.0	11
90	Richfield	6.9	47
91	Austin	6.9	44
92	Milaca	6.9	14
93	Glenwood	6.9	13
94	Grand Marais	6.9	13
95	Litchfield	6.9	11
96	Burnsville	6.8	136
97	Lake Elmo	6.8	23
98	Dayton	6.8	19
99	Wabasha	6.8	16
100	Shorewood	6.8	12

How do we calculate the score?

Variety (25%) — how many different sports the city covers.
Quality (20%) — richness of each center's information.
Activity (20%) — real user interest over the last 30 days.
Scale (15%) — number of centers in the city.
Density (10%) — centers per resident (dampened).
Courts (10%) — total capacity: number of courts.

Each section is measured as a percentile against the other cities in the United States and combined into the final score, on a 0-10 scale. Variety and density are measured with a uniform instrument (only sources with homogeneous national coverage) so that no city is favored by having a more complete open catalog. We only score cities with population data and a presence in those sources.