A typical Mountain Lake home is worth roughly $143,000
No new homes were permitted in 2025.
What kind of housing town is Mountain Lake?
Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.
A typical home costs 2.2 years of income
Less than across Minnesota (3.9 years). Try your own numbers below.
That covers a typical Mountain Lake home, with $101K to spare.
A two-bedroom rents for about $980 a month here, $80 more than owning.
An estimate, not a loan offer: payments of up to 28% of income, a 30-year fixed loan, Mountain Lake’s typical property tax (1.28% of value a year, from the Census) and insurance of about 0.35%. Mortgage insurance, HOA fees and other debts aren’t included.
A two-bedroom rents for about $980
Renters already here pay a median of $929.
Fair Market Rent a month, utilities included
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Market Rents by ZIP code (Cottonwood County, MN): the 40th-percentile rent plus utilities for a standard unit. Median rent and renters: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
No new homes permitted in 2025
No permits for new homes were issued in Mountain Lake in 2025. The last year with any was 2024 (1 new home).
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, Mountain Lake's population fell by 105 even though 30 new homes were permitted. Homes are holding fewer people: households are getting smaller, or more homes are used part of the year. Across Minnesota: 2.2 new residents per new home.
Every year as a table
| Year | New homes | Single-family | 2+ per building | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–Aug) | 1 | 1 | 0 | $575,000 |
| 2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2024 | 1 | 1 | 0 | $575,000 |
| 2023 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2022 | 1 | 1 | 0 | $575,000 |
| 2021 | 8 | 0 | 8 | $1.6 million |
| 2020 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2019 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2018 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $489,000 |
| 2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2016 | 1 | 1 | 0 | $247,000 |
| 2015 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2014 | 1 | 1 | 0 | $250,000 |
| 2013 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2012 | 26 | 2 | 24 | $2.6 million |
| 2011 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2010 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2009 | 4 | 4 | 0 | $278,000 |
| 2008 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2007 | 1 | 1 | 0 | $200,000 |
| 2006 | 3 | 1 | 2 | $440,000 |
| 2005 | 9 | 3 | 6 | $841,000 |
| 2004 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $225,000 |
| 2003 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $110,000 |
| 2002 | 1 | 1 | 0 | $110,000 |
| 2001 | 3 | 3 | 0 | $300,000 |
| 2000 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $147,000 |
Homes authorized by building permits, counted in the year the permit was issued. U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey.
1 of Mountain Lake’s houses are on the National Register
Half of Mountain Lake’s homes were built before 1964.
Minnesota: 72% own.
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024. Historic houses: National Register of Historic Places.
On the market in Mountain Lake
Listed in the past 60 days. Each opens on the listing site.
Neighbors talk housing
What Mountain Lake buyers, sellers and renters are saying.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Home values: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), Zillow Research. Sales, days on market and supply: Redfin Data Center. Income, ownership, taxes and rent: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. New homes: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey. Fair Market Rents: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Historic houses: National Register of Historic Places. Listings link to their publishers. The calculator is an estimate, not a loan offer.