Where are America's Coldest Cities?
What are the top five coldest cities in the United States? We鈥檝e compiled a new list based on mean annual temperatures to see which city is the coldest of them all. Did your city make the cut?
鈥淣o matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.鈥
For the 鈥渃oldest cities鈥 list, we鈥檙e not looking at the cities that have experienced the lowest minimum temperatures but rather the most consistently cold cities. To find this out, we looked at the cities鈥 mean annual temperatures over a 30-year period.
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Additionally, it may come as no surprise that Alaska performs exceptionally well in this kind of ranking. To even the playing field and give other states a chance, we鈥檝e narrowed this list down to cities with a population of at least 10,000.
Without further ado, here鈥檚 the ranking!
Top 5 Coldest Cities in the United States
5. Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan (41.7掳F)
Sault Ste. Marie is the second-most populated city in Michigan鈥檚 Upper Peninsula, perched at the eastern tip of Lake Superior and across the St. Mary鈥檚 River from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Being a direct neighbor to Canada is usually a good indicator that it will be cold, so it鈥檚 no surprise that Sault Ste. Marie secured the fifth position on our list.
4. Williston, North Dakota (41.5掳F)
Perhaps best known for its booming oil industry, which caused the city鈥檚 population to double between 2010 and 2020, Williston is located in North Dakota鈥檚 northeastern quadrant. Although the city may be considered 鈥渉ot鈥 in the oil industry, its frigid winters keep its mean temperatures low enough to rank at number four.
3. Grand Forks, North Dakota (39.8掳F)
Less than 100 miles north of Fargo lies Grand Forks, which ranks third on our list. Grand Forks鈥 lowest temperature on record is 鈥43掳F, and its mean annual temperature doesn鈥檛 even crack 40掳F!
2.&苍产蝉辫;顿耻濒耻迟丑,&苍产蝉辫;惭颈苍苍别蝉辞迟补&苍产蝉辫;(39.6掳贵)
We started this list at the eastern tip of Lake Superior, so it also seems appropriate to talk about the other side of the lake. On Lake Superior鈥檚 western tip, you鈥檒l find chilly Duluth, which barely edged out Grand Forks by 0.2 degrees to take second in our ranking.
1. Fairbanks, Alaska (27.6掳F)
Surprised? Alaska managed to take the win even with our 鈥減opulation of at least 10,000鈥 stipulation. The city experiences a mean annual temperature of 27.6掳F鈥攖hat鈥檚 below the freezing point! For those interested in records, the lowest temperature on record for Fairbanks is 鈥66掳F. Brrr.
Honorable Mention
We would be remiss not to mention one city in particular, as it blew the other cities鈥 temperatures out of the water but did not meet our population cutoff. This is Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska, which has a mean annual temperature of a bone-chilling 11.7掳F! Given that it鈥檚 the northernmost city in the United States and sits north of the Arctic Circle, the only surprising thing about the city is that nearly 5,000 people can call it home!
(Note: This list is based on climate normals data from the .)
Other Cold Cities to Watch
To add interest, let鈥檚 highlight a few other wintry U.S. cities. If you鈥檙e planning any winter vacations, keep an eye on the weather in these places!
Boston, Massachusetts
- Nor鈥檈aster storms translate to heavy rainfall, snow, and freezing temperatures. Thanks to the wicked nor鈥檈asters, Boston has experienced some of the top blizzards in the past century.
Chicago, Illinois
- The 鈥淲indy City鈥 (which isn鈥檛 actually that windy) has one of the coldest average temperatures and some of the heaviest snowfalls. Many of the worst storms in history have hit Chicago.
Cleveland, Ohio
- Due to its location near Lake Erie, Cleveland gets hit hard by lake effect snow, winds, and subzero temperatures.
Detroit, Michigan
- With over 40 inches of snow every winter, on average, Detroit also ranks as one of the coldest U.S. cities.
Indianapolis, IN, and Columbus, OH
- Both midwestern cities have many similarities, including the low normal daily mean temperatures in winter months, many frigid days, and fierce winds.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Not only does this city rank high on snowfall and have low average winter temperatures, but it鈥檚 also below freezing on your average winter day.
Snowiest Cities
What about the snowiest places in the country? That鈥檚 an entirely separate (but similar) list! See which cities can claim to be the most snowbound: Top 10 Snowiest Cities in the U.S.
How cold does it get where you live?
Catherine Boeckmann
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I live in central Maine, and I am shocked that there's not one mention of this state. Although we've had a mild winter for us, I could name several towns here that are pretty sure to take the prize. But let's just start with Carabou, Maine for an example.
The rankings above are based on the consistently coldest cities in January 2019, so while it’s certainly possible that Caribou saw a minimum temp lower than other places, perhaps it was just not quite as consistently cold throughout the month.
Stanley, Idaho is one of the most beautiful places in the country but also one of the very coldest. Situated in the Sawtooth Mountains, near Redfish Lake, its population dwindles way down in the winter. Most people in this small town (population 68) walk to work. Commute time is 5 minutes! :) I only visit there in the summer!
I lived both in Indianapolis and Milwaukee. Milwaukee is a far better city for metropolitan 'feel', transportation, and consumer services, but Indianapolis is the far better city in the winter. I think I read Indy has an average daily temp of 40 degrees by late February, and I don't think Milwaukee hits the 40's until well into April! Plus neither Indy or Columbus have "ample snowfall". People writing this don't know what "ample snowfall" is. I've been in Indy for close to 3 years and I've never touched a shovel. If it snows, it's gone in 3 days or so...
Cheyenne, Wyoming...snowing up to 9mths of the year and hail the other 3 ...suicide rate is almost as high as wind speed.
I think you are confusing that with Seattle,WA which tends to not really get that much rain but more of low ceiling clouds and constant drizzle and mist. *Mistle*.
At least in Cheyane you can get decent sunny days spread in between stormy periods regardless of temperature which just seeing the sky can make all the mood differences.
I think that Indiana cities in the northern part of the state are much colder due to the wind coming off of Lake Michigan. Areas near Chicago have "lake effect" weather. Indianapolis is rarely colder than -10 Fahrenheit.
Hi Greg, We agree with your statement. The top cities had a population cut-off, so some of those towns are just smaller. Towns in Indiana near Lake Michigan do indeed 鈥渆njoy鈥 that lake effect.
Minot ND I lived there for over 7 years at the AFB and we got wind chills in the negative 50's but were never on the news
So, my hometown, Fairbanks Alaska doesn't count as a city?
