Dead Lake TownshipMN
A town of 534.
Is Dead Lake Township a good place to live?
The biggest park or preserve is Dead Lake Wildlife Management Area, at 667 acres. Dead Lake Township has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
534 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Moving to Dead Lake Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Dead Lake Township, 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 Dead Lake Township.
More of Dead Lake Township’s residents are 65 or older than in the typical Minnesota or U.S. town
Of the 274 Minnesota towns we compare, none has a higher age of the median resident than Dead Lake Township. Dead Lake Township: 19% of residents are under 18, below both Minnesota’s towns (23%) and U.S. towns (22%). In Dead Lake Township, 36% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more.
| Dead Lake Township | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 42% | 18% | 18% |
| Median age | 61.2 years | 39.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 19% | 23% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 36% | 33% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±7.2 points. Across Minnesota, 49.9% of residents are women.
| Dead Lake Township | MN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.3% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.6% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 1.9% | 8.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 5.8% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 8% | 13.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 4.6% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 19.2% | 12.9% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 31.9% | 10.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.6% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.5% | 6.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23.7% | 23.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 25.5% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.3% | 11.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 26.3% | 25.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.7% | 13.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 500, single groups can be off by several points
Natural hazards: very low risk in Dead Lake Township, mostly inland flooding
FEMA expects less storm and flood damage in Dead Lake Township than in 82% of U.S. communities. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Dead Lake Township once, in 2009.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most of Dead Lake Township’s workers commute out: the town has 0.1 jobs for each of them
The top destinations are Fergus Falls (16%), Perham (15%) and New York Mills (8%). Since 2013, Dead Lake Township has added 22 jobs, to 26 in 2023. Half of commuters travel less than 23 miles.
| Dead Lake Township | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 7.1% | 7% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expect snowy winters and pleasant summers in Dead Lake Township
Dead Lake Township’s peak summer temperature stands at 80°F, below both the Minnesota town median (82°F) and the median of U.S. towns (85°F).
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
How healthy Dead Lake Township is
In Dead Lake Township, 29% of adults feel lonely, and 16% binge drink. The town does better than the Minnesota average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 9. The share of adults in Dead Lake Township who report frequent mental distress: 14%.
| Dead Lake Township | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 30% | 33% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 18% | 16% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 10% | 12% |
| What stands out | Dead Lake Township | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 7.2% | 9.3% |
| Fewer adults without reliable transportation | 5.8% | 7.1% |
| More adults with heart disease | 8.6% | 5.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
7.4% of the land in Dead Lake Township is protected from building
For Dead Lake Township, the concentration of trails is 0.1 miles per square mile. 2.0 miles of trail wind through 3 parks and preserves.
| Dead Lake Township | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 7.4% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Dead Lake Wildlife Management Area | — | 667 |
| 2. Mondt WPA | — | 371 |
| 3. Amor Wildlife Management Area | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Dead Lake Township
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Dead Lake Township; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 Dead Lake Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Minnesota.
100% of working residents leave Dead Lake Township for work
Where Dead Lake Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Dead Lake Township
Township in Minnesota, United States
Dead Lake Township is a township in Otter Tail County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 535 at the 2020 census. Dead Lake Township was organized in 1897, and named for a local lake commemorating a massacre of the Ojibwe Indians.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 35 sq mi
- Elevation
- 1,362 ft
Questions about Dead Lake Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Dead Lake Township, MN a good place to live?
Dead Lake Township has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.