Lake LeelanauMI
A town of 124, settled in 1924.
Is Lake Leelanau a good place to live?
Lake Leelanau has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
What makes Lake Leelanau stand out
Where Lake Leelanau beats most towns.
124 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and 1 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lake Leelanau. Close and well known come first.
4 mi National LakeshoreSleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore1.6M visitors a year35 mi MuseumMichigan Legacy Art ParkPhoto credits
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore: en:User:Grod028, Public domain
Moving to Lake Leelanau: who provides what
Lake Leelanau is unincorporated, so Leelanau County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Lake Leelanau.
The typical home in Lake Leelanau is valued at about $900K
93% of Lake Leelanau households own their home, above both the Michigan town median (84%) and the median of U.S. towns (73%). Home values are up 5.7% over the year to September 2026.
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
A job hub: Lake Leelanau has 2.8 jobs for every working resident and draws in 196 commuters
Most people who work leave Lake Leelanau to do it: just 4% work in town. Employers in Lake Leelanau added 137 jobs between 2011 and 2021, to 199. For residents here, the share who live below the poverty line is 3.2%. Half commute less than 16 miles.
| Lake Leelanau | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 3.2% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.2% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Lake Leelanau faces a low natural-hazard risk, led by cold waves
On expected storm and flood damage, Lake Leelanau sits below 79% of U.S. communities. 54% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from cold waves, followed by inland flooding at 39%.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The climate in Lake Leelanau brings snowy winters and pleasant summers
The July high for Lake Leelanau comes to 78°F, below both Michigan’s towns (82°F) and U.S. towns (85°F).
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
How healthy Lake Leelanau is
Among adults in Lake Leelanau, 32% have obesity. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Lake Leelanau is ahead of Michigan on 13 and behind on 1. In Lake Leelanau, 11% of adults smoke cigarettes, and 20% get no exercise outside work.
| Lake Leelanau | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 34% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 25% | 25% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 80% | 79% |
| What stands out | Lake Leelanau | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5.4% | 8.7% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.6% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
5.8% of the land in Lake Leelanau is protected from building
Lake Leelanau has 3 parks and preserves, 8 acres in all.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Narrows Natural Area | — | 5 |
| 2. The Narrows DNR Boat Ramp | — | 2 |
| 3. Grove Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Lake Leelanau
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Lake Leelanau; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Lake Leelanau residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
Every workday, about 196 people come to Lake Leelanau for work
Where Lake Leelanau’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
About Lake Leelanau
Census-designated place & unincorporated community in Michigan, United States
Lake Leelanau is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Leelanau County, Michigan, near the lake of the same name. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 229. It is situated along M-204 at the "narrows" that separate North and South Lake Leelanau. The community is divided between Leland Township and Suttons Bay Township.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 0.3 sq mi
- Elevation
- 617 ft
- ZIP code
- 49653
Questions about Lake Leelanau
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Lake Leelanau, MI a good place to live?
Lake Leelanau has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.