Prior Lake vs Lakeville MN
A Scott County lake town and a Dakota County city more than twice its size, compared side by side.
I’ve lived in Prior Lake since 1986 and sold homes in both cities for 22 years. Prior Lake and Lakeville draw a lot of the same buyers, and their home prices are about even, but they’re very different towns.
The short version
Home prices are about even: a median sale price of $538K in Lakeville and $535K in Prior Lake over the last six months. Lakeville is more than twice the size, sits on I-35 and had a lower violent crime rate in 2024. Prior Lake is smaller and centered on its lake.
At a glance
| Prior Lake | Lakeville | |
|---|---|---|
| County | Scott | Dakota |
| Population, 2025 estimate | 29,780 | 78,810 |
| Forecast for 2040 and 2050 | 31,500 and 34,400 | 85,500 and 91,200 |
| School districts | ISD 719 (most of the city); ISD 720 (part of the north side) | ISD 194 (most of the city); ISD 192 and 196 (parts of the east side and northeast) |
| Median sale price, last 6 months | $535K | $538K |
| Median days on market, last 6 months | 19 | 22 |
| Sold over asking, last 12 months | 26.7% | 31.6% |
| Violent crimes per 100,000, 2024 | 117 | 79 |
Population: Metropolitan Council estimates and forecasts. The Census Bureau’s July 2025 estimates are 28,140 for Prior Lake and 79,270 for Lakeville. Home figures: from the MLS via priorlake.realestate, late September 2026. Crime: FBI; the national rate in 2024 was 359 per 100,000.
Based on information from the Regional Multiple Listing Service of Minnesota, Inc. for the period September 28, 2023 through September 28, 2026: home sales in Prior Lake and Lakeville. Data believed to be accurate but should be independently verified.
Downtown Prior Lake to downtown Lakeville is about 11 miles, about 20 minutes without traffic.
Schools
Most of Prior Lake is in Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools (ISD 719); part of the north side is in Shakopee Public Schools (ISD 720). Prior Lake-Savage started the 2026-27 school year with 8,357 students. It has six elementary schools, two middle schools, Prior Lake High School, Bridges Area Learning Center and Edgewood for early learning. New K-5 boundaries took effect this fall, when WestWood closed as a neighborhood school. The district says it was the first in Minnesota to run E-STEM in every school.
Voters turned down the district’s operating levy in November 2024, and it cut staff and electives for 2025-26. Two levy questions are on the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot: a new operating levy, and a capital projects levy that counts only if the first one passes. The school referendum page lays out both.
Most of Lakeville is in Lakeville Area Public Schools (ISD 194). Parts of the east side are in Farmington (ISD 192), and a northeast corner is in Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan (ISD 196).
Lakeville’s district is the bigger one: 12,025 students in 2024-25 to Prior Lake-Savage’s 8,788, by the federal count (NCES). It runs two high schools, Lakeville North and Lakeville South, with about 1,870 and 1,820 students. Prior Lake has one high school, and it’s bigger than either, at about 2,860.
Check the address, not the city
School district lines don’t follow city lines, in either city. Before you make an offer, check the address with the district that serves it. Prior Lake-Savage’s school finder shows the new 2026-27 boundaries.
For test scores and graduation rates, the state’s Minnesota Report Card shows every district on the same measures.
The lake
Prior Lake is two connected basins: Lower Prior, 956 acres, and Upper Prior, 386 acres. Together that’s about 1,340 acres and 21 miles of shoreline, the largest lake in Scott County (watershed district and DNR figures). The public side of it: two beaches (Sand Point, and Watzl’s inside Lakefront Park), two DNR boat launches (Sand Point and Dewitte) and six city fishing docks, two of them on Prior Lake. The city counts 15 lakes inside its limits in all. Boating rules, fishing and ice are on the lake page.
Lakeville has lakes of its own. Lake Marion, about 530 acres, has a public beach at Antlers Park, and Orchard Lake, about 238 acres, has a city beach. Prior Lake’s lake is more than twice the size of Lake Marion, and the town is built around it in a way Lakeville isn’t.
Home prices
Over the last six months, the median sale price was $538K in Lakeville and $535K in Prior Lake (from the MLS via priorlake.realestate, late September 2026), close enough to call even. Lakeville homes took a median of 22 days on market to Prior Lake’s 19, and 31.6% sold over asking in the last 12 months to 26.7%. Lakeville is more than twice the size and grew about 14% from 2020 to 2025 (Census Bureau), so it has more homes for sale at any given time.
Across Prior Lake over the last 12 months, the median sale price was $525K on 461 sales: $620K for single-family homes, $366K for townhomes and $200K for condos. Homes with lake frontage (not just access or a view) sold for a median of $1.10M on 55 sales, and 19 new-construction homes sold for a median of $930K. MLS figures go by mailing address, so Prior Lake’s include parts of Credit River and Spring Lake townships. The housing market page has more.
Prior Lake and Lakeville side by side: median sale price, days on market, how often homes sell over asking, and what is for sale now. I keep it on priorlake.realestate, updated twice a day from the MLS.
- Compare Prior Lake and Lakevilleevery number in one table
- The Prior Lake marketthe full picture on one page
Property taxes
In Prior Lake, property taxes on recent sales ran about 0.9% of the sale price a year. For single-family homes sold in the last three years, the median tax was $4,740 a year; for townhomes, $3,208 (from the MLS via priorlake.realestate). The 2027 levies and the Nov. 3 school referendum are on the property taxes page.
Lakeville is in Dakota County, whose own tax rate is lower than Scott County’s: 21.0% of tax capacity proposed for 2026, to 28.5%. In Dakota County’s comparison, that’s the lowest county rate in the metro. Lakeville puts its 2026 city tax rate at 33.0% of tax capacity, the lowest of the 11 nearby cities it compares itself with. Dakota County estimated 2026 taxes on the median Lakeville home, valued at $467,150, at about $4,930.
The Census Bureau’s survey for 2020 to 2024 puts median bills about the same in both cities. Compare the tax statements on the actual homes you’re looking at; both counties have property tax lookups on their websites.
Commute
Prior Lake is about 24 miles southwest of downtown Minneapolis, 31 to 36 minutes without traffic. Mall of America is about 25 minutes, the airport 25 to 30, and St. Paul 35 to 45 by County Road 42 and I-35E. MVTA’s Route 490 runs weekday express buses from downtown Prior Lake to downtown Minneapolis and the U of M, about 50 minutes to 12th and Hennepin. Route 447 runs every two hours, seven days a week, to the Savage park and ride, Burnsville Center and the Apple Valley Transit Station. The commute guide has the schedules and park and rides.
Lakeville sits on I-35, which makes St. Paul and the east metro easier to reach. To downtown Minneapolis and the airport the drive is about the same from both cities, roughly 25 miles to downtown. If you work in Eden Prairie or along Highway 169, Prior Lake is closer.
Size and feel
This is the difference you notice day to day. Prior Lake has about 29,800 people, one high school and one big lake.
Prior Lake has one downtown, on Main Avenue, with a brewery and local restaurants. The big days: Lakefront Music Fest, two nights in July at Lakefront Park that draw more than 32,000 people by the fest’s count; Prior Lake Days in August, with a 21+ Sip and Stroll on Friday and a free family day downtown on Saturday; the farmers market downtown on Saturdays, 8 a.m. to noon from May into early October; and DecemBRRR Dazzle, one December evening at Lakefront Park with the tree lighting, fireworks and Santa.
Lakeville has about 78,800 people, two high schools and more restaurants, stores and services, with more room to be anonymous. The Lakeville Area Arts Center hosts classes, shows and community events. Some people love the range; others miss a smaller town.
Parks and trails
Prior Lake has 49 city parks on about 1,000 acres and 80 miles of trails and sidewalks, the city says. Lakefront Park is the biggest, about 141 acres in the city’s 2024 park plan, with a beach, a skate park, an amphitheater, a sledding hill and hockey and skating rinks. Just south of the city line, Cleary Lake Regional Park has a campground, a golf course, a swimming beach, ski trails and 28 fenced off-leash acres.
Lakeville’s park system is bigger, as you’d expect in a city more than twice the size. It includes Ritter Farm Park, Aronson Park and the beaches at Antlers Park and Orchard Lake.
Safety
Prior Lake had 33 violent crimes in 2024, a rate of 117 per 100,000 people, about a third of the national rate of 359 (FBI). Counting property crime too, its 2024 rate was about 43% below the national rate. It had 37 violent crimes in 2025. In a city this size a few cases move the rate a lot, so look at more than one year. The safety page has police, fire and emergency contacts.
Lakeville’s rate was lower: 79 violent crimes per 100,000 people in 2024, about a fifth of the national rate (FBI). Its property crime rate was lower too, about 521 per 100,000 in the state’s 2025 figures to Prior Lake’s 1,035 (BCA). Both cities are far below the national rate.
Who each city is best for
Prior Lake might be your fit if:
- Lake life matters to you.
- You want a smaller city with one high school and one downtown.
- You work in Eden Prairie or along Highway 169.
- The district’s E-STEM approach appeals to your family.
Lakeville might be your fit if:
- You want more homes to choose from.
- I-35 matters for your commute, especially to St. Paul or the east metro.
- You want a bigger city with more restaurants, shopping and services.
- You’d like a bigger district with two high schools.
- You’re weighing crime rates closely: Lakeville’s were lower in 2024 and 2025.
The bottom line
Prices are even and the drive downtown is about the same. Lakeville is bigger, sits on I-35 and had lower crime rates; Prior Lake is smaller and has the lake. Spend a Saturday in each before you decide.
Photos: Sunset on Prior Lake by Tiger Girl, CC BY 2.0; Lakeville City Hall by Allmightyduck, CC BY-SA 3.0.
