The LakesMN
A town of 594.
Is The Lakes a good place to live?
The biggest place to walk is Lake Shetek State Park, 976 acres with 6.9 miles of trail. The Lakes has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
594 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Moving to The Lakes: who provides what
The Lakes is unincorporated, so Murray County and regional agencies provide most services.
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 The Lakes.
Most of The Lakes’ workers head elsewhere: there are 0.2 jobs for each of them
For residents in The Lakes, the share who live below the poverty line is 3.5%. Just 2% of the town’s working residents have a job in town. Since 2013, The Lakes has added 26 jobs, to 58 in 2023. Also worth knowing: the average commute for The Lakes comes to 30 minutes.
| The Lakes | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 18% | 14% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 3.5% | 7% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.5% | 9.8% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The Lakes has snowy winters and pleasant summers
A winter brings about 49 inches of snow, with January nights at 6° and July afternoons at 82°.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
A smaller share of adults binge drink in The Lakes than in most of Minnesota or the rest of the country
Of the 272 Minnesota towns we compare, none has a higher share of adults who had a checkup this year than The Lakes. Among adults here, 28% sleep under 7 hours, below both the Minnesota town median (30%) and the median of U.S. towns (36%). In The Lakes, 27% of adults get no exercise outside work. This Minnesota town does better than the Minnesota average on 11 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 9.
| The Lakes | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 44% | 31% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 18% | 16% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 16% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 30% | 33% |
| What stands out | The Lakes | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 6.2% | 9.3% |
| Fewer adults without reliable transportation | 5.1% | 7.1% |
| More adults with heart disease | 10% | 5.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Conserved land covers 7.8% of The Lakes
Trails run 9.9 miles in 6 parks and preserves. The Lakes’ trail network density stands at 0.2 miles per square mile, where Minnesota’s towns sit at 0.5 and U.S. towns at 0.4. Parks and preserves here: 6, covering 2,110 acres.
| The Lakes | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 7.8% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lake Shetek State Park | 6.9 mi | 976 |
| 2. Lake Maria Wildlife Management Area | — | 455 |
| 3. Shetek Wildlife Management Area, East Unit | — | 341 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Moderate risk in The Lakes, with inland flooding at the top
44% of The Lakes’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by drought at 15%. Compared with 58% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage here is higher.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Everything we know about The Lakes
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of The Lakes; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 The Lakes residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Minnesota.
98% of working residents leave The Lakes for work
Where The Lakes’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About The Lakes
Unincorporated community in Minnesota, US
The Lakes is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Murray County, Minnesota, United States located north of Currie and south of Garvin. The population was 590 at the 2020 census. The community is centered about Lake Shetek, the largest lake in southwestern Minnesota. The lake and the community are located in parts of four townships in Murray County: Lake Sarah, Shetek, Murray, and Mason.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 44 sq mi
- Elevation
- 1,509 ft
Questions about The Lakes
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is The Lakes, MN a good place to live?
The Lakes has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.