Old High School, 1914
Lake Mills’s story
190 years in pictures
Census counts: 590 in 1870, 6,211 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1914 and 4 maps from 1891 on.
- 1836Lake Mills is chartered
Lake MillsWI
With 2,206 residents, this town was chartered in 1836.
6 bordering townsMap →
Photo: Eli Wedel · CC BY-SA 4.0
Population
2,206
2025 Census estimate · +0.5% since 2020
Median home value
$454K
Census ACS
Household income
$119K
median
Median age
47.8
years
Jobs based here
251
A commuter town
Is Lake Mills a good place to live?
The best of Lake Mills’ subject grades are an A+ for incomes and an A for the outdoors; the weakest is a C for cost of living. Only 56 of Wisconsin’s 879 towns score higher on incomes. Lake Mills's schools outperform 70% of the state's. 17% of the land in Lake Mills is conserved, above both Wisconsin’s towns (3.8%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). Lake Mills Wildlife Area, at 2,751 acres with 6.6 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Lake Mills has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Lake Mills stand out
Where Lake Mills beats most towns.
A commuter town
98% of working residents leave Lake Mills for work
Where Lake Mills’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
251jobs based in Lake Mills
2%of working residents work in town
19 mimedian commute distance
Census LEHD 2023
How Lake Mills grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Wisconsin), ordered by how far Lake Mills is from typical.
Jobs & incomeAmong the best of the towns comparedA+Open →Hazard riskInland flooding tops the listA−Open →Cost of livingTypical home $454K, 5.4 years of the Watertown area’s $84K median household incomeCOpen →SchoolsGraded on exam and test resultsB+Open →HealthFort Memorial Hospital 12.3 miles awayB+Open →WalkabilityEPA walkability 4.7 of 20; 1.5% of households have no car; 3% of workers walk, bike or ride transitC+Open →
Character Graded, but not part of the overall grade.
OutdoorsAmong the best for parks and open landAOpen →HistoryChartered 1836; 6 notable people born hereBOpen →Civic life0.5 community nonprofits per 1,000 residentsB−Open →
Described, not graded Taste, not quality: snow or an older crowd is neither good nor bad.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Getting set up
The full setup list →Moving to Lake Mills: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lake Mills, and how to reach them.
PowerWe Energies20.5¢/kWh · EIA 2025HIFLD · EIA
WaterLake Mills Waterworks1 health-based violation in 5 years · EPAEPA
Internet10 providers96% of addresses get 100/20 MbpsFCC
Trash & dumpNot on file yetWe don’t have Lake Mills’ trash rules yet
Register to voteOnlineIn Wisconsin you can register online until 20 days before Election Day, in person up to and including Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 20 days before).vote.govWho runs elections hereTown of Lake Mills ClerkThe town itself; contacts on the Handbook page.FVAP, Jun 2025
ZIP codes53551, 53594, 5352353551 78% · 53594 13% · 53523 9%Census 2020
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 Lake Mills.
Work & commuteJobs & income grade A+
Most of Lake Mills’ workers head elsewhere: there are 0.2 jobs for each of them
For most workers, Lake Mills is a place to come home to: only 2% work in town. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs here rose by 35, to 251. The median household income locally is $119,000. The top destinations are Lake Mills (13%), Madison (11%) and Watertown (5%).
2%work in town
| Lake Mills | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $119,000 | $87,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 2% | 6.4% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.4% | 8.3% | 8% |
Where working residents work
In Lake Mills2%
Lake Mills13%
Madison11%
Watertown5%
Milwaukee4%
19 mi
median commute distance
251
jobs based in Lake Mills
A commuter town
jobs vs. working residents
C+
Walkability grade: more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Natural hazardsHazard risk grade A−
Natural hazards: low risk in Lake Mills, mostly inland flooding
Lake Mills’ FEMA hazard score stands at 22 of 100. Just over half of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by tornadoes at 18%. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Lake Mills once, in 2008.
22risk score of 100
FEMA risk score
Inland floodingTornadoesCold waves
1
federal disasters paid out here
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
HealthB+
Residents of Lake Mills are healthier than two in three U.S. towns
77% of adults had a checkup this year in Lake Mills. Two figures for adults here: 40% have obesity, 15% report frequent mental distress.
67%healthier than U.S. townsB+Health Grade
| Lake Mills | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 38% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 15% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 30% | 33% |
32 measures vs. Wisconsin
4 better28 too close to call0 worse
| What stands out | Lake Mills | WI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.6% | 12.1% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 8% | 9.9% |
Fort Memorial Hospital
12.3 mi away · emergency room
None
primary care, dental or mental-health shortage
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
OutdoorsA
Lake Mills keeps 16.6% of its land conserved
Across 5 parks and preserves: 10 miles of trail. In Lake Mills, the concentration of trails is 0.3 miles per square mile.
16.6%conserved
16.6%
conserved · 3,435 of 20,726 acres
10 mi
of trails · 0.3 per sq mi
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lake Mills Wildlife Area | 6.6 mi | 2,751 |
| 2. Korth Park | 2.6 mi | 91 |
| 3. Bean Lake State Natural Area | — | 167 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Climate
Lake Mills has snowy winters and pleasant summers
Lake Mills’ typical July afternoon high comes in at 83°F.
42″snow a winter
Typical low → high °F
Winter15–31°
Spring36–57°
Summer59–81°
Fall40–60°
Oct 14
typical first frost
Apr 29
typical last frost
+1.1°
vs. the 20th-century average
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Nearby attractions
All 56 attractions →Camp Randall Stadium and 17 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lake Mills. Close and well known come first.
23 mi Stadium & arenaCamp Randall Stadium
5 mi State parkAztalan State Park
22 mi Stadium & arenaKohl Center
36 mi TheatreAlpine Valley Music Theatre
8 mi Theme parkLittle Amerricka
19 mi GardenOlbrich Botanical GardensSources: National Park Service · ski areas © OpenSkiMap / OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata · Wikipedia readership · photos via Wikimedia Commons
Photo credits
Camp Randall Stadium: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain · Aztalan State Park: Joshua Mayer - Flickr user wackybadger, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Kohl Center: Pbrown111 at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Alpine Valley Music Theatre: chad davis, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Little Amerricka: Dklompmaker, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Olbrich Botanical Gardens: Chief-O at English Wikipedia, Public domain
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Keep exploring
Everything we know about Lake Mills
19pages on Lake Mills
The big questions
Out and about
The story
After high school
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Lake Mills
About 3 of every 100 Lake Mills residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Wisconsin.
Famous people from Lake Mills
6 notable people were born in Lake Mills.
L
Laura L. KiesslingAmerican chemist · born 1960C
Carleton B. JoeckelAmerican librarian · 1886–1960J
Jim WilsonAmerican politician in Oklahoma · born 1947H
Hal RaetherAmerican baseball player · 1932–2020
G
Gwynn ChristensenAmerican football and baseball coach · 1925–2017About Lake Mills
City in Wisconsin, United States
Lake Mills is a city in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 6,211 at the 2020 census. The city is located partially within the Town of Lake Mills.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 4.1 sq mi
- ZIP code
- 53551
- Area code
- 920
Lake Mills’s neighbors
6 towns share a border with Lake Mills.
Lake MillsDeerfieldAztalanWaterlooOaklandMilfordLake Mills
How the neighbors grade
| Town | WI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Mills | — | — | C | — | B+ | B+ |
| Lake Mills | #89 | A− | C | B+ | B+ | A− |
| Deerfield | — | — | C | — | B | A− |
| Aztalan | — | — | C+ | — | B | B |
| Waterloo | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Oakland | #302 | C+ | C+ | — | B | B |
| Milford | — | — | C | — | B+ | B |
Lake Mills, Deerfield, Aztalan and Milford have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Lake Mills, Deerfield, Aztalan, Oakland and Milford report no FBI crime data of their own. Waterloo isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Lake Mills with a neighbor →
Questions about Lake Mills
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Lake Mills, WI expensive?
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
What is Lake Mills, WI known for?
Lake Mills was chartered in 1836. 6 notable people were born here, including Laura L. Kiessling and Carleton B. Joeckel.