Sherwood Forest Lodge Complex · Photo: Kelvin0mql · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Lake Shore works elsewhere
For jobs and income Lake Shore is better than 57% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (C). 191 jobs are based in Lake Shore, against 441 working residents. Only 3% work in Lake Shore itself; outside it, Brainerd draws the most (16%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Lake Shore in brief
Lake Shore and Brainerd trade workers both ways
Brainerd is the top workplace for Lake Shore residents (16%) and also where the most people who work in Lake Shore come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Lake Shore than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Lake Shore fell from 343 in 2014 to 191 in 2024, −44%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 441 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Lake Shore
The poverty rate holds Lake Shore’s grade up (5.8%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 14% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (1.6%) is left out: Lake Shore’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Lake Shore could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
Commuting out of Lake Shore: the destinations
Where Lake Shore clocks in
16% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Most jobs in Lake Shore are in services
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lake Shore, 2014 → 2024: 343 → 191. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lake Shore’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Lake Shore quiets down on a workday
On a workday 427 residents head out to work, 14 work right here, and 177 people come in from elsewhere.
About 880 people are in Lake Shore on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
About 22 minutes to work from Lake Shore
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lake Shore workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 403 commuters (the 19% who work from home are left out). Across Minnesota: 84% drive alone, 2% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The commute from Lake Shore, by distance
About 28% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Lake Shore, most people drive to work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Minnesota, on an EPA index of 5.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 496 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.0% of Lake Shore households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lake Shore’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500, Lake Shore ranks 1,018th of 3,771 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Medicine Lake MN | 1,342 | $184K | 2.7% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Dellwood MN | 1,148 | $225K | 4.1% | 0.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Louisville Township MN | 1,361 | $143K | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,016 | Withee WI | 1,050 | $95K | 4.6% | 1.0% | 1% | B |
| 1,017 | Lake Dunlap TX | 1,411 | $79K | 13.7% | 0.0% | <1% | B |
| 1,018 | Lake Shore MN | 1,127 | $97K | 5.8% | 1.6% | 3% | B |
| 1,019 | Quarry Township IL | 1,158 | $74K | 5.6% | 3.5% | 9% | B |
| 1,020 | Keene NY | 1,121 | $94K | 3.8% | 0.0% | 11% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Lake Shore, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
How Lake Shore compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Nisswa (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lake Shore workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Shore | – | B | C | 22 min | $96,563 |
| Fairview Township | under 3% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Home Brook Township | under 3% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Nisswa | 6% | A− | B | 22 min | $100,000 |
| Loon Lake Township | under 3% | — | — | 26 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Fairview Township: not graded. Home Brook Township and Loon Lake Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lake Shore’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Lake Shore: questions
What is the median household income in Lake Shore?
$96,563 (±$10,762) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lake Shore?
5.8%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lake Shore?
22 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lake Shore work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Brainerd (16%, 13 mi), Baxter (12%, 12 mi), Nisswa (6%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Lake Shore walkable?
Lake Shore is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lake Shore without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lake Shore, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lake Shore
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.