Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The best of Lake Ozark’s subject grades is an A− for schools; the weakest is a C− for health. Only 23 of Missouri’s 419 towns score lower on cost of living. 19% of residents live below the poverty line in Lake Ozark, above both the Missouri town median (14%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Lake Ozark has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Bagnell Dam and Osage Power Plant and Union Electrict Administration Building-Lakeside. Lake Ozark has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Lake Ozark beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Heritage Elementary | K–2 | 362 |
| The King's Academy | PK–8 | 180 |
| Early Childhood Center | PK | 86 |
Bagnell Dam and Osage Power Plant1,586 counted in 2010 and 2,077 in 2020; an estimated 2,247 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Missouri), ordered by how far Lake Ozark is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 507 in 1970, 2,077 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1936 and 3 maps from 1934 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lake Ozark, 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 Lake Ozark.
Most working residents leave Lake Ozark for work: only 10% work in town. Since 2013, Lake Ozark has added 147 jobs, to 1,855 in 2023. Lake Ozark’s average trip to work is 22 minutes, close to Missouri’s towns (22 minutes) and below U.S. towns (25 minutes).
| Lake Ozark | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $74,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 10% | 13% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by School Of The Osage. One of its 3 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heritage ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–2 | Grades K–2 | 362 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
Lake Ozark beats the Missouri average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 10. 41% of adults have high blood pressure in Lake Ozark.
| Lake Ozark | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 37% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 12% | 12% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Lake Ozark | MO |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 81% | 77.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.8% | 8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical Lake Ozark home is worth about $331,000, down 3.5% in a year, 25% above the Missouri typical home. The median rent in Lake Ozark is $1,304 a month.
| Lake Ozark | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,304 a month | $971 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 69% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Lake Ozark has chilly winters and warm summers. Lake Ozark’s July high is 89°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 62% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Adults 18 to 34 are 27% of residents (22% statewide); children under 18 are 18% of residents (22% statewide). 39% of Lake Ozark adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more. Lake Ozark has grown 8.4% since 2020, to 2,247 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Lake Ozark | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 39% | 22% | 29% |
| Median age | 42.1 years | 38.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 17% | 18% |
Somewhere between 36% and 66% women
The Census survey reached too few of Lake Ozark’s residents to say more: its margin here is ±14.6 points. Across Missouri, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Lake Ozark | MO | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9% | 11.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 20.1% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9.5% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.9% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 16% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.1% | 10.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.5% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.2% | 8.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 26.7% | 30.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.7% | 20.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 5.3% | 8.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 29.9% | 19.8% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.4% | 12.6% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,200, single groups can be off by several points
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Lake Ozark; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 Lake Ozark residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Missouri.
Where Lake Ozark’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
City in Camden and Miller counties in Missouri, United States
Lake Ozark is a city in Camden and Miller counties in Missouri, United States, near its namesake, the Lake of the Ozarks. The population was 2,077 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Lake Ozark.
| Town | MO rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Ozark | — | — | C− | B | A− | C− |
| Osage Beach | #171 | C− | C+ | C | B+ | C− |
| Bagnell | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Lake Ozark has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Bagnell isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Lake Ozark with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes. That is 5.8 years of the area's median household income ($56,736 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.