Brainerd vs Crosslake

A side-by-side comparison of Brainerd and Crosslake: population, income, housing, and more.

Brainerd and Crosslake are places in Minnesota. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Brainerd has the higher population (14,474 vs 2,648 in Crosslake). Crosslake has the higher median household income ($85,000 vs $53,705 in Brainerd). Crosslake has the higher median home value ($540,200 vs $178,600 in Brainerd).

Population, income & housing

	Brainerd	Crosslake
Population	14,474	2,648
Median age	36.1 yrs	60.2 yrs
Median household income	$53,705	$85,000
Median home value	$178,600	$540,200
Median gross rent	$848	$1,105
Housing units	6,692	3,052
Homeownership rate	57.0%	86.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	19.5%	33.9%
Unemployment rate	8.1%	2.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Brainerd	Crosslake
Population	13,373 → 14,474 (+8.2%)	2,204 → 2,648 (+20.1%)
Median household income	$34,371 → $53,705 (+56.3%)	$64,821 → $85,000 (+31.1%)
Median home value	$117,900 → $178,600 (+51.5%)	$328,400 → $540,200 (+64.5%)
Median gross rent	$733 → $848 (+15.7%)	$855 → $1,105 (+29.2%)

Brainerd

Population

13,37314,474

Median household income

$34,371$53,705

Median home value

$117,900$178,600

Median gross rent

$733$848

Crosslake

Population

2,2042,648

Median household income

$64,821$85,000

Median home value

$328,400$540,200

Median gross rent

$855$1,105

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Brainerd	Crosslake
Under 5	8.0%	1.5%
5 to 17	13.4%	14.4%
18 to 24	10.4%	1.2%
25 to 34	16.5%	7.6%
35 to 44	13.5%	8.1%
45 to 54	8.1%	7.3%
55 to 64	11.9%	20.2%
65 to 74	9.2%	21.7%
75 and over	9.1%	18.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Brainerd	Crosslake
White (non-Hispanic)	89.5%	97.2%
Black or African American	1.6%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.6%	0.0%
Asian	0.5%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	1.3%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.8%	2.8%
Hispanic or Latino	2.7%	0.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Brainerd	Crosslake
No high school diploma	8.0%	3.9%
High school graduate	34.4%	24.3%
Some college or associate's	38.0%	37.9%
Bachelor's degree	12.9%	21.4%
Graduate or professional degree	6.6%	12.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Brainerd	Crosslake
Drove alone	79.0%	76.9%
Carpooled	10.8%	1.4%
Public transit	1.3%	0.2%
Walked	2.3%	0.0%
Bicycle	0.9%	0.0%
Worked from home	4.5%	15.9%
Other means	1.3%	5.6%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Brainerd	Crosslake
1-unit, detached	59.1%	87.0%
1-unit, attached	4.8%	2.5%
2 to 4 units	7.3%	2.9%
5 to 19 units	14.0%	1.0%
20 or more units	10.7%	2.3%
Mobile home & other	4.1%	4.4%

Poverty & households

	Brainerd	Crosslake
Poverty rate	16.7%	8.6%
Average household size	2.17	2.07
Mean commute (minutes)	19	31
Median year structure built	1970	1990