Map of Apple Valley city, Minnesota

Apple Valley is a city in northwestern Dakota County in the State of Minnesota, and a suburb of the Twin Cities. The population was 56,374 at the 2020 census, making it the 17th most populous city in Minnesota. In 2014, Money.com named Apple Valley the 17th best place to live in the United States, up from 20th in 2010, 24th in 2008 and 28th in 2007.

Apple Valley city overview:
Name:	Apple Valley city
LSAD Code:	25
LSAD Description:	city (suffix)
State:	Minnesota
County:	Dakota County
Incorporated:	1969
Elevation:	955 ft (289 m)
Land Area:	16.87 sq mi (43.69 km²)
Water Area:	0.68 sq mi (1.76 km²)
Population Density:	3,341.47/sq mi (1,290.18/km²)
ZIP code:	55124
Area code:	952
FIPS code:	2701900
GNISfeature ID:	0639415
Website:	ci.apple-valley.mn.us

Online Interactive Map

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Apple Valley online map. Source: Basemap layers from Google Map, Open Street Map (OSM), Arcgisonline, Wmflabs. Boundary Data from Database of Global Administrative Areas.

Apple Valley location map. Where is Apple Valley city?

Apple Valley location on the U.S. Map. Where is Apple Valley city. — Apple Valley location on the U.S. Map.

Apple Valley location on the Minnesota map. Where is Apple Valley city. — Location of Apple Valley in Minnesota.

History

The area that became Apple Valley was first established in 1858 as Lebanon Township, and remained a farming community for nearly a century. In the mid-1950s, residential developments started replacing farmland. Orrin Thompson, a real estate developer, was responsible for the city’s early development. He contracted a company to determine where the next growth in the Twin Cities would be. It was 0.5 miles (1 km) from County Road 42 and Cedar Avenue. Thompson bought the first houses and streets from the Brobacks, who built the city’s first four houses. The firm that selected this area was in Apple Valley, California, so Thompson took that name for the development. An alternate explanation for the name change exists, however. According to local developer Henry Broback, Lebanon Township was renamed Apple Valley because “…when you drive east on (County Road) 42 and turn to enter Lebanon, it reminded them of Apple Valley, California, which was a nice community.”

Voters in the township voted to incorporate in the 1968 general election. They also selected the name Apple Valley over the name Lebanon Valley by a vote of 1376 to 757.

Apple Valley Road Map

Apple Valley city Satellite Map

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 17.57 square miles (45.51 km), of which 16.86 square miles (43.67 km) is land and 0.71 square miles (1.84 km) is water. The city’s geography is rolling, with elevation from the lowest to the highest points in the city varying by one hundred feet (thirty metres) or more. The downtown area and its adjacent residential district (which formed the original core of the city when it was incorporated) are in a shallow valley.