Prior Lake is a somewhat small city located in the state of Minnesota. With a population of 15,936 people and three constituent neighborhoods, Prior Lake is the 62nd largest community in Minnesota.

Prior Lake is neither predominently blue-collar or white-collar, instead having a mixed workforce of both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Overall, Prior Lake is a city of sales and office workers, managers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Prior Lake who work in sales jobs (15.43%), office and administrative support jobs (13.84%), and management occupations (12.20%).

Also of interest is that Prior Lake has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Prior Lake is a good choice for families with children because of several factors. Many other families with children live here, making it a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families. The city's good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic success. Many people own their own single-family homes, providing areas for children to play and stability in the community. Finally, Prior Lake's overall crime rate is lower than average for the country.

For most residents of Prior Lake, getting to work requires a car. In fact, 97.8% of people in Prior Lake drive alone to work on most days, making Prior Lake a very car-oriented city. In general, car-oriented communities tend to emphasize streets, highways, and ease of parking, often to the detriment of walkability. Strip centers are a feature of Prior Lake's landscape.

As is often the case in a small city, Prior Lake doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.

Prior Lake Information and Demographics

The citizens of Prior Lake are very well educated compared to the average community in the nation: 32.76% of adults in Prior Lake have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.

The per capita income in Prior Lake in 2000 was $32,089, which is wealthy relative to Minnesota and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $128,356 for a family of four. However, Prior Lake contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

The people who call Prior Lake home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Prior Lake is White, followed by Native American. Important ancestries of people in Prior Lake include German, Norwegian, Irish, Swedish, English, and Polish.

The most common language spoken in Prior Lake is English.