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Place dossier plate
SheetMN-THE-LAKES-MN ยท The Lakes, MN 666 pop ยท income 70th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around The Lakes
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest The Lakes on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Pennville ยท lowest
36,607
Pennville ยท lowest
36,607 median HH income
37.1% of the leader ยท rank #1
Mountainhome ยท near
88,924
Mountainhome ยท near
88,924 median HH income
90.2% of the leader ยท rank #2
The Lakes ยท this city
88,929
The Lakes ยท this city
88,929 median HH income
90.2% of the leader ยท rank #3
Ivanhoe ยท near
88,929
Ivanhoe ยท near
88,929 median HH income
90.2% of the leader ยท rank #4
Surfside ยท near
88,938
Surfside ยท near
88,938 median HH income
90.2% of the leader ยท rank #5
Paulden ยท near
88,945
Paulden ยท near
88,945 median HH income
90.2% of the leader ยท rank #6
Elysian ยท highest
98,571
Elysian ยท highest
98,571 median HH income
100.0% of the leader ยท rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for The Lakes on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 666.
The Lakes ranks in the 70th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
70th
percentile, household income
77th
percentile, home value
36th
percentile, median rent
๐ How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: The Lakes, MN
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 666 residents in The Lakes, a small town within Minnesota. The typical household in The Lakes brings in $88,929 a year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 2.3%. Typical homes in The Lakes are valued around $391,900, and the median resident age is 63.4 years. Educational attainment runs 30.4% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 51.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Minnesota tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: the state registers 98.6 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Near Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,125 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $225 across Minnesota, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 42.4 out of 100 (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of The Lakes's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from housing and income to work and mobility to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For The Lakes, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, annual population history; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
How far does income reach against housing in The Lakes?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.3%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
What does the journey to work look like in The Lakes?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 72.9%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Which cities make useful reference points for The Lakes?
Within Minnesota, the closest population matches are Buffalo Lake (664 residents, $56,719 income); Center City (668 residents, $94,712 income); Elysian (663 residents, $98,571 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Stebbins, AK (666 residents); Sawmill, AZ (666 residents); Cinco Bayou, FL (666 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
Above-average cost ยท BEA RPP 2024, Minnesota average
B-
City profile score ยท The Lakes, MN
65/100
4 published dimensions ยท ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Poverty rate A-
2.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income B-
$88,929
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop โฅ1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share C
30.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living D
98.6 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 โ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
The Lakes profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 84/100 (A-) ยท 2.3%
Household income: 68/100 (B-) ยท $88,929
Bachelor's+ share: 59/100 (C) ยท 30.4%
Cost of living: 46/100 (D) ยท 98.6 index
How does The Lakes compare to other US cities?
The Lakes measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income70% higher than other cities
Home value77% pricier than other cities
Median rent36% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares The Lakes against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Minnesota only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Minnesota-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places The Lakes near the bottom of Minnesota's cities
Among the 785 Minnesota cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, The Lakes ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares The Lakes only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#190 of 775
75th percentile in Minnesota
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 785
0th percentile in Minnesota
Median Home Value
#67 of 774
91st percentile in Minnesota
Poverty Rate
#586 of 785
24th percentile in Minnesota
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#207 of 784
74th percentile in Minnesota
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Minnesota only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
70th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How The Lakes's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$391,90023rd percentilemore affordable than 23% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates ยท 2023
The Lakes's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.4ร
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0โ5.0ร
National rank
#11,782 of 15,516
More affordable than 24% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#9,051 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.4ร, The Lakes sits in the moderate band:
national rank #11,782 of 15,516 and #9,051 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value รท median household income for cities with both fields and population โฅ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0โ5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$88,929The Lakes, MN median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context The Lakes, MN median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for The Lakes, MN.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)30.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)2.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)51.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
666
Median Income
$88,929
Median Home Value
$391,900
Median Age
63.4
Poverty Rate
2.3%
Labor force participation
51.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
30.4%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
72.9%
Carpool
6.4%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.3%
Work from Home
15.3%
Other
4.1%
Based on 314 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Minnesota statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $225
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Minnesota at $225 (electricity about $95 , water and sewer about $45 ).
These are Minnesota statewide averages, not a meter reading for The Lakes. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Minnesota's BEA cost-of-living index is 98.6 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around The Lakes is $1,125/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Minnesota statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 42.4 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Minnesota statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county The Lakes sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How The Lakes compares to similar-size Minnesota cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.