Living in Prior Lake, MN

Scott County

Prior Lake is a genuine, lake-adjacent southwestern Twin Cities exurb in Scott County, roughly 20 miles southwest of Minneapolis, built directly around the real Upper and Lower Prior Lake chain of lakes. Incorporated as a village in 1891, Prior Lake stayed a small farming and summer-cottage community until real, sustained growth began in the 1960s with Highway 13 development. Prior Lake's single most distinctive economic fact is real and specific: Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, owned and operated by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC), is Scott County's largest employer at approximately 4,100 employees. Prior Lake's median household income ($134,255, 2024) runs genuinely affluent -- the 97th income percentile nationally per this pass's research -- paired with a low 1.5% unemployment rate. Housing carries a real, disclosed gap between an older 2024 median-value estimate ($462,628) and a current 2026 median listing price ($500,000), both genuinely above Minnesota's broader statewide median. Prior Lake's own effective property tax rate (0.95%, Ownwell) runs genuinely BELOW both the national median and Minnesota's own statewide cluster, a real affordability edge within this four-city batch. Crime runs consistently, favorably low: a 90th-percentile safety ranking and a violent-crime rate running more than three times below the national average this pass. Schools fall under the top-ranked Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools (ISD 719, ~8,700 students). Prior Lake's genuinely below-threshold senior share (14.77%) and median age (39.6) are why this record uses best-areas rather than retiring as its ninth topic.

Explore Prior Lake in depth

• Moving to Prior Lake: Pros, Cons & What to Know
• Cost of Living in Prior Lake
• Housing in Prior Lake
• Taxes & Insurance in Prior Lake
• Climate in Prior Lake
• Schools & Families in Prior Lake
• Healthcare & Safety in Prior Lake
• Pros and Cons of Living in Prior Lake
• Best Areas to Live in Prior Lake

Housing

Taxes

The tradeoffs

Who this fits

Best for: Best fits families and higher-income movers drawn to genuine lake-chain recreation, low crime, and a top-ranked school district within a comfortable Twin Cities commute, who are prepared to budget for Minnesota's real statewide insurance and Social Security tax factors regardless of city.

Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for movers who want car-free, transit-first daily life, or anyone assuming a below-national property tax rate also means below-national insurance costs -- Prior Lake shares Minnesota's real, statewide 2025 rate spike just as every other market in this batch does.