Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,483, settled in 1940.
Pequot Lakes’ best subject grades are an A+ for safety and an A− for schools and health. Only 5 of Minnesota’s 212 towns score higher on safety. Pequot Lakes has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them H. H. Broach House and Pequot Fire Lookout Tower. Pequot Lakes has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Pequot Lakes beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Pequot Lakes Middle | 5–8 | 581 |
| Pequot Lakes Senior High | 9–12 | 599 |
| F.E.D. Pequot Lakes Credit Recovery | — |
2,162 counted in 2010 and 2,395 in 2020; an estimated 2,483 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Minnesota), ordered by how far Pequot Lakes is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1995.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Pequot Lakes, 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Pequot Lakes.
Pequot Lakes reports less crime per resident than 100% of the U.S. towns and cities we grade. Pequot Lakes’ property crime rate is 0 per 1,000 residents, where Minnesota’s towns sit at 8.7 and U.S. towns at 9.9.
| Pequot Lakes | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 8.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 1.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Pequot Lakes Public Schools. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Pequot Lakes Senior High, with 599 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pequot Lakes MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 581 | C+ |
| Pequot Lakes Senior HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 599 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
Pequot Lakes beats the Minnesota average on 7 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 27% of adults feel lonely in Pequot Lakes, below both the Minnesota town median (30%) and the median of U.S. towns (33%). 28% of Pequot Lakes adults sleep under 7 hours.
| Pequot Lakes | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 30% | 33% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 30% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 16% |
| What stands out | Pequot Lakes | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.6% | 11.4% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 7.1% | 9.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.4% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Pequot Lakes has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. The July high in Pequot Lakes is 80°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
People 65 and older are 25% of residents (17% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 33% of residents (38% statewide). Pequot Lakes has grown 3.8% since 2020, to 2,483 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. Pequot Lakes’ median age is 43.2 years.
| Pequot Lakes | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 25% | 18% | 18% |
| Median age | 43.2 years | 39.9 years | 40.5 years |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5.3 points. Across Minnesota, 49.9% of residents are women.
| Pequot Lakes | MN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 16.7% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.6% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.1% | 8.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.9% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 8.7% | 13.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 8.1% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.9% | 12.9% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 14.5% | 10.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10.5% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 2.2% | 6.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24.1% | 23.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 26.9% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 16.7% | 11.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22% | 25.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.1% | 13.8% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,500, single groups can be off by several points
Most working residents leave Pequot Lakes for work: only 15% work in town. Since 2013, Pequot Lakes has added 62 jobs, to 1,009 in 2023. The top destinations are Brainerd (11%), Baxter (8%) and Nisswa (7%).
| Pequot Lakes | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $64,000 | $90,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 15% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 6.6% | 7% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
11 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Lowell Wildlife Management Area, at 155 acres.
| Pequot Lakes | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.8% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Paul M Thiede Fire Tower Park | 0.7 mi | 107 |
| 2. Lowell Wildlife Management Area | 0.3 mi | 155 |
| 3. Trailside Park | 0.1 mi | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The typical Pequot Lakes home is worth about $353,000, up 3.7% in a year, close to the Minnesota typical home. 65% of households own their home in Pequot Lakes.
| Pequot Lakes | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $847 a month | $1,196 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 65% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 50% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
None within 15 miles of Pequot Lakes; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Pequot Lakes residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Minnesota.
3 places in Pequot Lakes on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in Minnesota, United States
Pequot Lakes ( PEE-kwaht LAYKS) is a city in Crow Wing County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 2,395 at the 2020 Census . It is part of the Brainerd micropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Pequot Lakes.
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pequot Lakes | — | — | B− | A+ | A− | A− |
| Jenkins | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Loon Lake Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Nisswa | — | — | C | A | B+ | A− |
| Pelican Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Breezy Point | #132 | A− | C | A+ | A− | A− |
| Ideal Township | — | — | C− | — | B+ | B+ |
Pequot Lakes, Nisswa 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. Jenkins, Loon Lake Township and Pelican Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Pequot Lakes with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
That is 4.9 years of the area's median household income ($71,384 across the Brainerd, MN area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
