City · Cass County, Minnesota

Lake Shore, Minnesota

Lake Shore is a city in Cass County, Minnesota, part of the Brainerd, MN metro area. It has 1,073 residents. Lake Shore, Minnesota has a quality-of-life score of 78 out of 100 (high), ranking #3,498 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Minnesota it ranks #263 of 364 cities and towns. It ranks best on time spent in the emergency room (low), high school diploma or higher (high) and social associations (high). It ranks worst on distance to an emergency room (high), drought exposure (high) and injury deaths (high).

78High

Quality-of-life score: #3,498 of 15,651 cities and towns
Minnesota: #263 of 364 in MN
Population: 1,073 (2020-2024)
Land area: 13 mi²
Density: 84.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 2734928

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety60#6,329/15,637
Economy72#4,409/15,631
Housing66#5,164/14,977
Health44#8,758/15,609
Healthcare24#11,847/15,650
Environment93#1,019/15,453
Education71#4,563/15,649
Infrastructure55#7,058/15,650
Community94#981/15,651
Leisure & amenities87#2,104/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Lake Shore, Minnesota ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Cass County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Time spent in the emergency room · low68 min
100/100Minnesota 134 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesCass County value
High school diploma or higher · high97.1%
99/100Minnesota 93.9%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Social associations · high17.8 /10k
96/100Minnesota 12.2 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCass County value
Loneliness · low28.4%
96/100Minnesota 32.1%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Restaurants and bars · high15.9 /10k
96/100Minnesota 8.6 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCass County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low5.2 µg/m³
95/100Minnesota 6.3 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyCass County value

Weaknesses

Distance to an emergency room · high18.5 mi
4/100Minnesota 6.2 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesCass County value
Drought exposure · high95%
4/100Minnesota 36%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAACass County value
Injury deaths · high142 /100k
5/100Minnesota 81 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCass County value
Average weekly wage · low$888
5/100Minnesota $1,480United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCass County value
Pharmacies · low0.6 /10k
5/100Minnesota 1.7 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCass County value
Distance to an airport · high115 mi
7/100Minnesota 43 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauCass County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
1,019 (2015-2019) → 1,073 (2020-2024)
+5.3%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
15.7% (2015-2019) → 0.0% (2020-2024)
−16 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
13.9% (2015-2019) → 21.7% (2020-2024)
+7.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
New homes permittedWorsening
17.3 /1k (2021) → 11.2 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−35%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
0.8% (2015-2019) → 7.5% (2020-2024)
+6.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
4.2× (2015-2019) → 5.3× (2020-2024)
+28%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Lake Shore, Minnesota improved on 0 of 10 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 9 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined1

Rent / income+7.8 points13.9% → 21.7%

All 10 measures

Change of every measure of Lake Shore, Minnesota between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	27.8 min2015-2019	21.9 min2020-2024	−5.9 min	Within the margin of error	93%
Bachelor's degree or higher	43.4%2015-2019	41.3%2020-2024	−2.1 points	Within the margin of error	16%
Broadband subscriptions	90.2%2015-2019	90.7%2020-2024	+0.5 points	Within the margin of error	10%
Effective property tax rate	0.84%2015-2019	0.77%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	28%
High school diploma or higher	95.6%2015-2019	97.1%2020-2024	+1.5 points	Within the margin of error	52%
Home price to income ratio	4.2×2015-2019	5.3×2020-2024	+1.1×	Within the margin of error	17%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4032015-2019	0.4602020-2024	+0.056	Within the margin of error	14%
Median household income	$90,2632015-2019	$96,5632020-2024	+7%	Within the margin of error	13%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	13.9%2015-2019	21.7%2020-2024	+7.8 points	Declined	13%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Lake Shore, Minnesota five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Lake Shore, Minnesota in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Lake Shore, Minnesota itself moved −7.3 points in standing on average over the same 9 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

1,073 residents (±127)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

486 households (±53)

Lake Shore, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Under $25k7.2%†35
$25k–50k14%†70
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

486 households (±53)

Lake Shore, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Own94%455
Rent6.4%†31

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+9.4 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

496 workers (±76)

Lake Shore, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Drive alone69%343
Carpool9.5%†47
Public transit0.0%0

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Brainerd, MN

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Cass County, the county holding most of Lake Shore's residents.

Cass County has 891 employer establishments, 284 for every 10,000 residents (1.14× the US rate of 248; 1.06× Minnesota's), with 7,493 paid employees at an average annual pay of $43,208. The Census Bureau also counts 2,751 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 891; 2,751 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 284; US 248 · Minnesota 268
Paid employees: 7,493
Average annual pay: $43,208; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Cass County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	105	33.5	2.16×More than typical	264	$64,038	301
Restaurants and other eating places	54	17.2	0.94×About typical	558	$25,029	9
Construction of buildings	47	15	1.98×More than typical	146	$52,041	147
Traveler accommodation	45	14.4	7.95×More than typical	1,083	$45,889	34
Lessors of real estate	43	13.7	1.11×About typical	293	$37,041	389
Full-service restaurants	37	11.8	1.54×More than typical	378	$25,992	4
Religious organizations	36	11.5	2.07×More than typical	227	$23,982	—
Services to buildings and dwellings	33	10.5	1.56×More than typical	83	$56,386	220
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	31	9.9	3.14×More than typical	38	$73,053	49
Ambulatory health care services	29	9.3	0.44×Fewer than typical	230	$52,222	66
Building equipment contractors	29	9.3	1.54×More than typical	113	$45,761	45
Other specialty trade contractors	29	9.3	3.69×More than typical	73	$96,342	111

Rank places for an industry Open Cass County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 31,344 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Lake Shore, Minnesota: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

3.5KFY2017
23.8KFY2023
-1.3KFY2024

What was bought

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Lake Shore, Minnesota, so they do not add up across cities.

Lake Shore, Minnesota's figures are part of those of Cass County, MN ($14.7M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Lake Shore is mostly in Cass County.

See federal money in Cass County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Lake Shore, Minnesota is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Pete StauberR-MN-8 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 1.6%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Cass County75100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Brainerd, MN87

Other cities and towns in Cass County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/2734928

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends