Saint Paul is noted for its neighborhoods; the city has been called "fifteen small towns with one mayor", owing to the neighborhood-based life of much of the city.

The city's fifteen main neighborhoods, from northwest to southeast, include:

Saint Anthony Park

A tree-shaded, upscale, middle-income neighborhood adjacent to the University of Minnesota Saint Paul campus, bordering Northeast Minneapolis on the west and the Minnesota State Fairgrounds on the east. It was the home to three Minnesota governors (William Marshall, 1866-70; Andrew McGill, 1887-1889; and Elmer L. Andersen; 1961-63). Originally set out as estates for the wealthy of Minneapolis, it has become a neighborhood of college professors, professionals, international students and ordinary working people. It is centrally located in the Twin Cities, providing a quaint, pedestrian-friendly business district that contains many services - including many independently owned shops and restaurants. The Carnegie Library, with an excellent new addition for children, and the top-rated St. Anthony Park Elementary School are the focal points of the neighborhood. St. Anthony Park, known to residents as SAP, is home to two colleges, the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota and the Luther Seminary, and thus home to graduate students from across the world. The largest area park is named for former St. Anthony Park resident Nathaniel P. Langford, who was responsible for the world's first national park (Yellowstone). Langford's most famous book, The Discovery of Yellowstone Park was published in 1905.

Merriam Park  

A well-to-do neighborhood bordering the Mississippi River on the west.

Macalester-Groveland 

Upscale neighborhood with three post-secondary institutions (Macalester College, the College of Saint Catherine and the University of Saint Thomas), with scenic East River Parkway and a gorgeous view of the Mississippi River as its western border.

Highland Park 

Another largely-upscale neighborhood, although it includes the Ford Motor Company Twin Cities Assembly Plant where the Ford Ranger and Mazda B-Series pickup trucks are produced. Historically the city's primary Jewish neighborhood and home to most of the city's synagogues.

The Midway 

Middle-class neighborhood which derives its name from being midway between the downtowns of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Includes the city's primary warehouse district and passenger rail terminal. Famous Midway natives include Peanuts cartoonist Charles Schultz.

Como Park  

Cozy upper-middle-class neighborhood situated around Lake Como, the city's main recreational lake.

North End 

A traditionally blue-collar neighborhood based on the Rice Street corridor.

Thomas-Dale

More usually called "Frogtown", the neighborhood has been in transition for decades. The neighborhood experienced massive problems as the center of Saint Paul's drug and prostitution trades in the 1980s and 1990s.

Summit-University 

Another neighborhood in transition, "Summit-Uni" is the heart of the local Hmong community as well as the city's other Asian communities, of whom Vietnamese, Laotians and Cambodians are represented in large numbers. Summit-University also incorporates the remnants of the old "Rondo" neighborhood - once a full-fledged neighborhood of the city, Rondo was the center of the Cities' African-American community dating back to the Civil War. Rondo was destroyed by the construction of Interstate 94 in the 1950's through the 1970's. Famous Summit-University natives include baseball great Dave Winfield]].

Summit Hill 

Also called "Crocus Hill" by locals, the neighborhood's focal point is Summit Avenue, the traditional home of the city's aristocracy; the boulevard is lined with the mansions of Saint Paul's traditional "old money", most notably that of railroad tycoon James J. Hill. At Summit's east end, overlooking Downtown, is the Saint Paul Cathedral, home of the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. With its vista of downtown and the Mississippi River, it is among the priciest neighborhoods in the Twin Cities. It was home to artists as diverse as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sinclair Lewis, August Wilson and, currently, Garrison Keillor.

West Seventh 

Officially known as the Fort Road area, due to its location on old native American and fur trader paths along the Mississippi from downtown to Fort Snelling. Known as "The West End" by locals (as distinguished from "the West Side", more on that below), the West Seventh neighborhood is a traditional immigrant neighborhood located below Summit Hill and along the western bluffs of the Mississippi River, spanning the entire length of West Seventh St.(Old Fort Rd.) The West End is the historical center of the Twin Cities' Irish, German, Polish, Italian and Bohemian immigrant communities, and is currently the center of Saint Paul's Russian immigrant population.

Downtown  

Downtown Saint Paul is in a perpetual state of rebound; its glory days were in the 1940s, and the neighborhood - always overshadowed by Downtown Minneapolis - is constantly trying to regain jobs and prestige. Home to Xcel Energy Center, home of the Minnesota Wild hockey team, Galtier Plaza, and the Minnesota World Trade Center.

West Side 

The name is somewhat confusing to newcomers, as the neighborhood is actually somewhat east of the line bisecting the city; it's the neighborhood across the Mississippi River to the south of Downtown, but technically on the west bank of the predominantly north-south river. It is the home to the largest Hispanic neighborhood in the Twin Cities, based along César Chávez Boulevard.

Payne-Phalen 

The neighborhood ranges from a tough-ish, blue-collar area to the south, to a solid middle-class area north of Maryland Avenue, and includes some fairly upscale real estate around scenic Lake Phalen.

Dayton's Bluff 

Dayton's Bluff is another highly-transitional neighborhood. The lower part of the Bluff, a sub-neighborhood called "Swede Hollow", is traditionally a fairly tough area; the Hollow and the Bluff in general have been home, sequentially, to most of the Twin Cities' immigrant communities, from Swedes and Germans in the mid-1800's, through waves of Italians, Eastern Europeans, African-Americans, Asians, Hispanics, and now Somali and Eritrean immigrants.

Greater East Side 

A largely middle-class neighborhood which borders on (and traditionally supplied much of the workforce for) neighboring 3M Corporation, one of Minnesota's biggest employers, whose corporate headquarters is just across McKnight Road from the Greater East Side in the suburb of Maplewood.

Battle Creek 

A large, middle-class neighborhood on the southeast side of the city, featuring some spectacular views of the Mississippi River and Downtown Saint Paul. Traditionally a bedroom community for 3M, it's become much more diverse in the past 30 years.