Side Lake is a very small town located in the state of Minnesota. With a population of 2,908 people and just one neighborhood, Side Lake is the 246th largest community in Minnesota.
Unlike some towns, Side Lake isn’t mainly white- or blue-collar. Instead, the most prevalent occupations for people in Side Lake are a mix of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Side Lake is a town of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Side Lake who work in management occupations (12.78%), office and administrative support (12.09%), and healthcare (7.17%).
Another notable thing is that Side Lake is an extremely popular destination for tourists and seasonal residents. So much of the population is seasonal such that the town’s population swells significantly during the vacation season, and drops again when the season ends. Because of this, much of the local economy is centered around tourism; some businesses may be operated only during the high season. During the low season, year-round residents will notice that the city is a substantially quieter place to live.
It is a fairly quiet town because there are relatively few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. (Children, for example, often can't help themselves from being noisy, and being parents ourselves, we know!) Side Lake has relatively few families with children living at home, and is quieter because of it. Renters and college students, for their own reasons, can also be noisy. Side Lake has few renters and college students. But the biggest reason it is quieter in Side Lake than in most places in America, is that there are just simply fewer people living here. If you think trees make good neighbors, Side Lake may be for you.
The education level of Side Lake citizens is a little higher than the average for US cities and towns: 24.71% of adults in Side Lake have at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Side Lake in 2022 was $40,589, which is upper middle income relative to Minnesota and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $162,356 for a family of four. However, Side Lake contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
The people who call Side Lake home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Side Lake residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Side Lake include German, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, and English.
The most common language spoken in Side Lake is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Polish.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
This neighborhood has wide open spaces, few people, and lots of space to stretch out. If you like locations that fit that description, you may like this neighborhood. Based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, with only 7 people per square mile living here, this neighborhood is less crowded than 97.8% of America. One of the notable things about is that it is one of the quietest neighborhoods in America, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis and quantitative rating of quietness. When you are here, you will find it to be very quiet. If quiet and peaceful are your cup of tea, you may have found a great place for you.
In addition, real estate in the neighborhood is almost exclusively owner-occupied. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher rate of owner-occupied housing than is found in 95.6% of U.S. neighborhoods. If you are seeking to rent, this neighborhood may not have many options, but high rates of ownership often indicate stability in a neighborhood. Vacant homes and apartments are a significant characteristic of this neighborhood. In fact, with 40.3% of the residential real estate vacant, the neighborhood claims the distinction of having a higher vacancy rate than 97.9% of the neighborhoods in America. This can either be because much of the property is seasonally occupied, like in many vacation areas, or that much of the real estate is more permanently abandoned.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Finnish and Croatian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 17.6% of this neighborhood's residents have Finnish ancestry and 2.7% have Croatian ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 7.0% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Italian at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 96.0% of the neighborhoods in America.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Side Lake are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 48.3% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 3.1% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 70.3% of America's neighborhoods.
A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.
In the neighborhood, 37.7% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 28.8% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (19.3%), and 13.6% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 98.4% of households. Some people also speak Italian (7.0%).
Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.
In the neighborhood in Side Lake, MN, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (22.8%). There are also a number of people of Finnish ancestry (17.6%), and residents who report Swedish roots (9.5%), and some of the residents are also of Norwegian ancestry (8.8%), along with some English ancestry residents (6.6%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 30 and 45 minutes commuting one-way to work (34.1% of working residents), which is at or a bit above the average length of a commute across all U.S. neighborhoods.
Here most residents (85.5%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (6.1%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.