Living in Lakeville, MN

Dakota County

Lakeville is a real, genuinely fast-growing far-southern Twin Cities suburb that has recently overtaken longer-established Burnsville (built separately in this same Tier A pass) as Dakota County's most populous city -- a real, disclosed, notable shift. Lakeville's own 2026 population estimate runs 79,212-81,941 depending on source, up a real 13%-17% since the 2020 Census, recording the largest net population gain of any Minnesota city recently. That growth carries a real, disclosed cost: housing runs genuinely more expensive than neighboring Burnsville's, with a real cross-source spread from $450,000 (Houzeo median) to $527,912 (RealtyTrac median estimate), inside a genuinely competitive market (37-day median days on market, 99.46% sold-to-list ratio). Lakeville's own crime rate runs genuinely, substantially below the national average (8.16 per 1,000 vs. 33.37 nationally, safer than roughly 84% of US cities) -- a real, meaningful differentiator this record credits directly. Dakota County's own property tax runs genuinely close to Minnesota's statewide average (Lakeville's own effective rate: 1.09%, actually below the 1.13% state median), while the state's real 4-bracket income tax (5.35%-9.85%) carries no local piggyback layer. This record also discloses, honestly, that Lakeville has no hospital directly within city limits -- residents rely on M Health Fairview Ridges Hospital in neighboring Burnsville, plus a local M Health Fairview Clinic for primary care.

Explore Lakeville in depth

• Moving to Lakeville: Pros, Cons & What to Know
• Cost of Living in Lakeville
• Housing Market in Lakeville
• Buying a Home in Lakeville
• Renting in Lakeville
• Taxes in Lakeville
• Homeowners Insurance & Natural Hazard Costs in Lakeville
• Climate & Weather in Lakeville
• Jobs & Economy in Lakeville
• Schools in Lakeville
• Crime & Safety in Lakeville
• Healthcare in Lakeville
• Traffic & Transportation in Lakeville
• Best Areas to Live in Lakeville
• Pros and Cons of Living in Lakeville
• Retiring in Lakeville
• Who Should / Shouldn’t Move to Lakeville

Housing

Taxes

The tradeoffs

Who this fits

Best for: Best fits families prioritizing genuine safety (a crime rate roughly 4x below the national average) and newer housing stock over the lowest possible south-metro price point, and young professionals drawn to Lakeville's real, disclosed rapid growth and continued development momentum.

Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for buyers prioritizing the lowest possible south-metro housing cost -- neighboring Burnsville, built separately in this same Tier A pass, runs genuinely more moderate; anyone who needs a hospital directly within city limits, since Lakeville genuinely does not have one; and anyone assuming Minnesota's genuinely elevated statewide hail and insurance-cost exposure doesn't apply here just because Lakeville isn't the state's most-cited hail-corridor city -- it genuinely sits within that same corridor.