Minnesota cell towers at a glance
The FCC records list 2,907 cell towers and other antenna sites in Minnesota: every registered antenna structure that is built and still standing, plus the licensed cellular transmitter sites too short to need registration. That ranks Minnesota 21st of the 51 states and DC by number of registered sites. The most common structure is the tower, with 1,138 sites (39%). Minneapolis has the most listed sites of any city, at 59.
To see the ones near you, tap Find towers near me above or type a Minnesota ZIP code. The list ranks sites by distance and shows the direction to each, its height and its owner.
Carriers on the record in Minnesota
Verizon is named on the most Minnesota sites, 342 of them (12%). A carrier is named only when it owns the structure or its cellular licence lists the site, so these counts are a floor, not a total. Most towers in Minnesota are owned by tower companies that rent space to several carriers without naming them.
| Carrier | Sites naming it | Share of Minnesota sites |
|---|---|---|
| Verizon | 342 | 12% |
| AT&T | 188 | 6.5% |
| T-Mobile | 89 | 3.1% |
Who owns the towers in Minnesota
The largest single owner name in Minnesota is American Towers LLC, with 353 sites (12%). Tower companies file under several subsidiary names, so one company can appear more than once below. Our guide to who owns cell towers explains which names belong together.
| Owner as filed | Sites | Share |
|---|---|---|
| American Towers LLC | 353 | 12% |
| Minnesota, State of | 282 | 9.7% |
| Cellco Partnership | 146 | 5.0% |
| Alltel Corporation | 101 | 3.5% |
| CCATT LLC | 86 | 3.0% |
| SBA Structures, LLC | 85 | 2.9% |
| RURAL CELLULAR CORPORATION | 85 | 2.9% |
| State of MN MnDOT Aeronautics | 84 | 2.9% |
Types of structure
| Structure | Sites | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Tower | 1,138 | 39% |
| Guyed tower | 664 | 23% |
| Lattice tower | 494 | 17% |
| Monopole | 297 | 10% |
| Pole | 167 | 5.7% |
| Other structure | 58 | 2.0% |
See types of cell towers for how to recognise each one.
Cities with the most listed sites
By the city named on each FCC filing. Filings use the nearest town, so rural towers count toward it. Each link opens the tower finder at the middle of that city's sites.
| City | Sites | |
|---|---|---|
| Minneapolis | 59 | Towers around Minneapolis |
| St. Paul | 55 | Towers around St. Paul |
| Duluth | 40 | Towers around Duluth |
| Brainerd | 26 | Towers around Brainerd |
| Bemidji | 26 | Towers around Bemidji |
| Park Rapids | 24 | Towers around Park Rapids |
| Willmar | 22 | Towers around Willmar |
| Alexandria | 22 | Towers around Alexandria |
| Fergus Falls | 21 | Towers around Fergus Falls |
| Grand Rapids | 21 | Towers around Grand Rapids |
Tallest registered structures in Minnesota
The tallest is a guyed tower near Big Lake at 1,509 feet (460 m) overall, owned by American Towers LLC. Structures this tall are usually broadcast masts or buildings rather than cell sites, but many carry cell antennas partway up.
| Height | Type | City | Owner | ASR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,509 ft | Guyed tower | Big Lake | American Towers LLC | 1028657 |
| 1,467 ft | Guyed tower | Shoreview | Fox Television Stations, LLC | 1022899 |
| 1,437 ft | Guyed tower | Shoreview | Telefarm Inc. | 1023883 |
| 1,437 ft | Guyed tower | Shoreview | Telefarm Inc. | 1023882 |
| 1,316 ft | Guyed tower | Ostrander | Gray Local Media, Inc. | 1011414 |
What is not counted
FCC registration is required only for structures over 200 feet or near airports, so shorter monopoles, rooftop antennas and small cells in Minnesota are mostly missing unless a cellular licence lists them. Why a tower is missing from the map explains the gap. The data is rebuilt monthly from the FCC's bulk files.