CrosslakeMN
A town of 2,412, settled in 1894.
Is Crosslake a good place to live?
The best of Crosslake’s subject grades are an A− for safety and schools; the weakest is a C− for hazard risk. 40% of residents are 65 or older in Crosslake, against 18% in Minnesota’s towns and 18% across U.S. towns. On cost of living, just 43 of Minnesota’s 573 towns do worse. 12% of the land in Crosslake is conserved, above both the Minnesota town median (4.7%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). Crow Wing State Forest, at 2,383 acres with 1.2 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Crosslake has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Crosslake stand out
Where Crosslake beats most towns.
Crosslake has grown 13% since 2010
2,141 counted in 2010 and 2,394 in 2020; an estimated 2,412 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
How Crosslake grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Minnesota), ordered by how far Crosslake is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Crosslake: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Crosslake, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Crosslake.
Crosslake stands out in Minnesota and nationally, with the median age higher than most
The median age in Crosslake is 61 years. Among 274 Minnesota towns, just 10 have a lower share of children under 18 than Crosslake. People 65 and older are 40% of residents (17% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 10% of residents (22% statewide).
| Crosslake | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 61 years | 39.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 15% | 23% | 22% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.9 points. Across Minnesota, 49.9% of residents are women.
| Crosslake | MN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 5.5% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.3% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 1.9% | 8.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.3% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 8.4% | 13.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 6.7% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 19.9% | 12.9% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 23.8% | 10.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 16.3% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4% | 6.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 25.6% | 23.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 25.9% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 14.1% | 11.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.3% | 25.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.1% | 13.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,400, single groups can be off by several points
Crosslake’s public schools outperform 81% of Minnesota districts
One of its 3 schools is below, with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Crosslake Community 6-12 Online, with 311 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crosslake Community Seat BasedLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 150 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
Crime per resident in Crosslake is lower than in 83% of U.S. towns
Crosslake’s violent crime rate is 0.4 per 1,000 residents.
| Crosslake | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.4 per 1,000 residents | 1.1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.6 per 1,000 residents | 8.7 | 9.9 |
Violent crime per 1,000 residents
Property crime per 1,000 residents
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Inland flooding leads a high hazard risk in Crosslake
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 74% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Four seasons and pleasant summers in Crosslake
Crosslake has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 80°, January nights drop to 0° and about 39 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
A smaller share of adults feel lonely in Crosslake than in most of Minnesota or the rest of the country
25% of Crosslake adults feel lonely. Of the 272 Minnesota towns we compare, none has a lower share of adults who have been diagnosed with depression than Crosslake. 13% of Crosslake adults report frequent physical distress.
| Crosslake | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 30% | 33% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 31% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 30% | 36% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 18% | 16% |
| What stands out | Crosslake | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 5.8% | 9.3% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 3.9% | 5.7% |
| More adults with heart disease | 10% | 5.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
A job hub: Crosslake has 1.4 jobs for every working resident and draws in 1,074 commuters
About one in 5 of Crosslake’s working residents works in town. 20% of workers work from home in Crosslake. Jobs based in Crosslake grew to 1,272 in 2023, 549 more than in 2013.
| Crosslake | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 22% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Work from home | 20% | 14% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 8.6% | 7% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Crow Wing State Forest | 1.2 mi | 2,383 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Homes in Crosslake sell for about $610K
The median sale price was $610,000 in May 2026.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Crosslake
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Crosslake; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Crosslake residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Minnesota.
About Crosslake
City in Minnesota, United States
Crosslake is a city in Crow Wing County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 2,394 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Brainerd Micropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 37 sq mi
- Elevation
- 1,240 ft
- ZIP code
- 56442
- Area code
- 218
Crosslake’s neighbors
5 towns share a border with Crosslake.
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crosslake | — | — | C− | A− | A− | B |
| Fairfield Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Ideal Township | — | — | C− | — | B+ | B+ |
| Fifty Lakes | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mission Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Breezy Point | #132 | A− | C | A+ | A− | A− |
Crosslake and Ideal Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Ideal Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Fairfield Township, Fifty Lakes and Mission Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Crosslake with a neighbor →
Questions about Crosslake
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Crosslake, MN expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $474,000, 36% above the Minnesota typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.