Woodland vs Kenwood

The numbers

Figures read live from each neighborhood's own page, so this table cannot fall out of step with them. Ratings are this guide's editorial 1 to 5 scale. How we score neighborhoods.

Which should you pick?

Nine thousand dollars separates the medians, the schools are identical at every level, and the commutes differ by a minute. This is the closest pair in the guide after Lakeside and Lester Park, and like that pair the decision is about texture rather than numbers.

Woodland is the greener and older of the two. Build years run 1900 to 1980, so it has genuine pre-war stock alongside postwar housing, and it rates 4.9 on nature access, one of the highest in the guide. It is more owner-occupied than almost anywhere, at 88.3%, and quieter at 4.2. It costs more per square foot, $228 against $203, which tells you the houses are smaller for the money but the land and the setting carry a premium.

Kenwood is the more convenient and more mixed. Build years run 1945 to 1990, so the stock is more uniformly postwar and, importantly, on easier ground. Kenwood rates 3.4 on winter ease against Woodland's 2.6, which is the single largest gap between them and the one most likely to matter in practice. It is closer to campus and to Miller Hill, more walkable at 3.4, and its tract reports a 35.6% renter share, so it has an actual rental market where Woodland does not.

The winter gap deserves the weight. A 2.6 against a 3.4 is the difference between a neighborhood where the grades and the plow order shape your February and one where they mostly do not. If you are moving from a warmer state and have not driven a Duluth hillside in winter, this is the number in the table to take most seriously.

The other genuine difference is what the tenure figures do to the feel of a street. Woodland at 88.3% owner-occupied reads as a settled, long-tenure neighborhood. Kenwood at 64.4% has more turnover, which some buyers want near a university and some do not.

Woodland

Pros

• 4.9 nature access, among the highest in the guide, with wooded lots and trail access nearby.
• 88.3% owner-occupied, the more settled of the two.
• Genuine pre-war housing available, with a build window back to 1900.
• Quieter at 4.2, and the same schools as Kenwood at every level.

Cons

• Winter ease of 2.6, the clear weakness, on steeper ground.
• $228 per square foot, the more expensive of the two on a like-for-like basis.
• Walkability of 2.9 with no commercial block of consequence.
• No published days-on-market figure, so pace is harder to read.

Kenwood

Pros

• Winter ease of 3.4, meaningfully better than Woodland on gentler ground.
• Closest of the pair to UMD, St. Scholastica and the Miller Hill corridor.
• Higher walkability at 3.4 and the better value per square foot at $203.
• A real rental market at 35.6% renters and $1,654 median rent.

Cons

• Lower nature access at 3.8, without Woodland's wooded character.
• Slower to sell at 25 days to pending.
• More postwar and less architecturally interesting; the build window starts at 1945.
• Marginally less quiet at 4.0, with more turnover.

Verdict by buyer type

Families: Effectively a tie, at 4.4 and 4.3, with identical schools. Choose on the house and the street. If your children will be outdoors constantly, Woodland's 4.9 nature rating is the tiebreak. If you want an easier winter school run, Kenwood.

First-time buyers: Kenwood, narrowly, on the per-square-foot figure of $203 against $228 and the gentler ground. Both are achievable at roughly the same median.

Retirees and downsizers: Kenwood, and it is the clearest verdict in this comparison. Better winter ease, closer to Miller Hill medical at seven minutes, more postwar single-level stock, and a shorter run to everything. Woodland's grades are a genuine argument against it for this buyer.

Investors: Kenwood, without much debate. A 35.6% renter share, the higher median rent, and university proximity make it the only one of the pair with a functioning rental market. Woodland at 88.3% owner-occupancy is not an investment neighborhood.

Academics and remote workers: Either, and this is the classic choice for both. Kenwood if you want to be near campus and want the winter to be easier; Woodland if you want trees, quiet and an older house and are willing to pay for it in both dollars per foot and February mornings.

Related reading: choosing a neighborhood with children and where newcomers settle first, which covers the quiet middle of the market these two sit in. Full detail on the Woodland and Kenwood pages.

Read the neighborhood guides

From the Journal

Common questions

Which is closer to UMD?

Both sit in the university corridor and neither is far. Kenwood is marginally better positioned for campus and for the Miller Hill corridor at seven minutes against Woodland's eight, and it has the higher walkability rating at 3.4 against 2.9.

Do Woodland and Kenwood feed the same schools?

Yes, entirely: Homecroft Elementary, Ordean East Middle School and Duluth East High School for both. That makes the school question a non-factor in this particular comparison, which is unusual. Confirm any specific address with the district, since boundaries change and the Kenwood edges have been flagged as ambiguous.

Which is the better investment?

Kenwood, on the rental figures. Its ACS tract reports a 35.6% renter share and a $1,654 median rent against Woodland's 11.7% and $1,546. University proximity supports that. Woodland is an owner neighborhood at 88.3% and is priced accordingly.

Where these facts come from

• Redfin, Woodland and Kenwood neighborhood market data accessed 2026-08-13
• Census ACS 5-year 2023 estimates, tenure and rent accessed 2026-08-13