Is Gem Lake a good place to live?
Gem Lake’s age of the median resident is 57.3 years, against 39.9 years in Minnesota’s towns and 40.5 years across U.S. towns. Gem Lake’s concentration of trails is 1.6 miles per square mile, where Minnesota’s towns sit at 0.5 and U.S. towns at 0.4. Gem Lake has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
What makes Gem Lake stand out
Where Gem Lake beats most towns.
511 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
U.S. Bank Stadium and 70 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Gem Lake. Close and well known come first.
Big draw12 mi Stadium & arenaU.S. Bank Stadium
9 mi Stadium & arenaGrand Casino Arena
11 mi Stadium & arenaHuntington Bank Stadium
13 mi Stadium & arenaTarget Field
10 mi Stadium & arenaAllianz Field
8 mi MuseumMinnesota State CapitolPhoto credits
U.S. Bank Stadium: Darb02, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Grand Casino Arena: AlexiusHoratius, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Huntington Bank Stadium: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Target Field: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Allianz Field: Andy Witchger, CC BY 2.0 · Minnesota State Capitol: McGhiever, CC BY-SA 4.0
.jpg){kind=link}
Moving to Gem Lake: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Gem Lake, 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 Gem Lake.
The typical home in Gem Lake is valued at about $614K
Values rose 3.4% in the 12 months to September 2026. Gem Lake’s typical rent stands at $1,800 a month. For households in the town, the share who are owner-occupiers is 87%.
| Gem Lake | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,800 a month | $1,196 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 87% | 75% | 73% |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| White Bear Montessori PrivateLargest elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 121 | – |
NCES · EDFacts
Gem Lake has 3.0 jobs for every working resident, and 677 people commute in
The share of working residents in Gem Lake who work locally: 1.3%. Half commute less than 10 miles. The middle household income in the town is $125,000. The top destinations are Minneapolis (15%), St. Paul (11%) and White Bear Lake (7%).
| Gem Lake | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $125,000 | $90,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 3.1% | 7% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.3% | 9.8% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Natural hazards: low risk in Gem Lake, mostly inland flooding
45% of Gem Lake’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by cold waves at 20%. FEMA expects less storm and flood damage here than in 79% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Snowy winters and pleasant summers in Gem Lake
The range runs from 6° on a January night to 82° on a July afternoon, with about 40 inches of snow a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
A smaller share of adults sleep under 7 hours in Gem Lake than in most of Minnesota or the rest of the country
Just over a quarter of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Gem Lake. This Minnesota town does better than the Minnesota average on 13 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 2. Two figures for adults in the town: 15% get no exercise outside work, 14% report frequent mental distress. Among 272 Minnesota towns, just 10 have a lower share of adults 18 to 64 who have no health insurance than Gem Lake.
| Gem Lake | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 30% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 23% | 25% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Gem Lake | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 4.6% | 8.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.6% | 7.5% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.5% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Gem Lake
Colleges nearby
21 within 15 miles of the center of Gem Lake
About 3 of every 100 Gem Lake residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Minnesota.
Every workday, about 677 people come to Gem Lake for work
Where Gem Lake’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Gem Lake
City in Minnesota, United States
Gem Lake is a city in Ramsey County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 528 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 1.1 sq mi
- Elevation
- 958 ft
- Area code
- 651
Questions about Gem Lake
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Gem Lake, MN a good place to live?
Gem Lake has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.