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Lake View, Iowa

Lake View is a tourist town of about 1,100 people in Sac County, Iowa. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.6 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Omaha, is about 89 miles away as the crow flies.

Tourist town

Population
1,122
up 0.3% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$175,600
Sac County prices up 35% since 2022
Household income
$68,618
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Iowa
84.1
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
9 miles
Sac City, IA
To Omaha
89 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 15.9% below the U.S. average in the parts of Iowa outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.6 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood1 violent crime was reported in 2025, about 0.9 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 0.9 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town1 public school.
  • A hospital close byLoring Hospital in Sac City, about 9 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityOmaha is about 89 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Lake View meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

Tourist town. About 28% of homes are vacation or seasonal homes, a sign of a visitor economy. More restaurants, shops and weekend events than locals alone could support, with the small-town basics intact.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$175,600U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 35%Sac County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$742 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$68,618U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
85%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,569 a yearIowa: $2,897
Homes built before 1940
26%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
5%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
28%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
84.1U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Iowa outside metro areas)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 35% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Iowa outside metro areas, not Lake View alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
1,1222020: 1,119
Median age
58.7 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
43%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
12%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
27%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
2%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (22%); manufacturing (14%); transportation, warehousing and utilities (9%)
Unemployment rate
1%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
19 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
8%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
9%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Loring Hospital, Sac City, IA, about 9 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

Nearest general hospital: Trinity Regional Medical Center, Fort Dodge, IA, about 45 miles away. Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

1 public school in Lake View, run by East Sac County Comm School District.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Iowa's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
77%U.S.: 76%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
8°F
July average high
83°F
Days 90°F or hotter
13 a year
Nights at or below freezing
159 a year
Rain and melted snow
33 inches a year
Snow
31 inches a year
Elevation
1,224 feet

Weather station: Sac City (9 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Loring Hospital, Sioux City, Omaha.

Sac County is outside any metro area, with fewer than 5,000 people in its towns, not next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 9, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

5 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including Blackhawk State Park, Black Hawk Preserve (Area B), Blackhawk State Park, Wildlife Preserve Area (Area A) and the Lakeside Park Historic District.

Read about Lake View's history on Wikipedia.

Know Lake View?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Wall Lake, IA736 people, 4 miles
  • Breda, IA488 people, 9 miles
  • Auburn, IA252 people, 9 miles
  • Odebolt, IA967 people, 11 miles
  • Lytton, IA270 people, 12 miles
  • Early, IA567 people, 13 miles
  • Arcadia, IA586 people, 15 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.