Welcome to Lake Mills ...
The city of Lake Mills is located in Jefferson County<1>.
While we don't have a date for the founding of Lake Mills, you might consider that their post office opened in 1844.
A typical abbreviation for Lake Mills: Lk. Mills
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Lake Mills has a population of 5,986 people<2> (see below for details).
Lake Mills is 820 feet [250 m] above sea level.<3>.
Time Zone: Lake Mills lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time
Area Codes for Lake Mills: 920 & 274<4>
The ZIP code for Lake Mills: 53551<5>
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Lake Mills had an population of 5,986 people. This is an increase of 4.87% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 23.6% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Lake Mills had a population of 5,708 people (or 6.82% of the total population of Jefferson County). This makes Lake Mills the county's 4th most populous community.
The population of Lake Mills represents 0.1% of the population of Wisconsin (which has 5,686,986 people), making it the state's 164th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 5,708 people, the population of Lake Mills increased 17.86% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 4,843 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Lake Mills.
Communities Also Named Lake Mills ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found another community named Lake Mills - it's located in Iowa.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Lake Mills.
Websites for Lake Mills ...
Official Website: www.ci.lake-mills.wi.us/
Communities near Lake Mills ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Lake Mills.
- Sun Prairie
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sun Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Prairie
- Sun Prairie is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 35,119 people
- Watertown
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watertown
- Watertown is located in Jefferson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 23,370 people
- Whitewater
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitewater
- Whitewater is located in Walworth County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 14,993 people
- Stoughton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stoughton have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoughton
- Stoughton is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13,218 people
- Fort Atkinson
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Atkinson
- Fort Atkinson is located in Jefferson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,372 people
- McFarland
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McFarland have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McFarland
- McFarland is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,291 people
- Jefferson
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jefferson have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
- Jefferson is located in Jefferson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,037 people
- Cottage Grove
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage Grove
- Cottage Grove is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,158 people
- Edgerton
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerton
- Edgerton is located in Rock County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,595 people
- Columbus
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus
- Columbus is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,117 people
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Lake Mills. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Lake Mills.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Lake Mills. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Lake Mills.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Lake Mills. Our list includes 5 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Lake Mills.
Adding Lake Mills to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Lake Mills in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Lake Mills was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>
From that list, the Lake Mills post office opened in 1844.
For more details, see References and Mentions for Lake Mills.
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Wisconsin's counties, including Jefferson, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Lake Mills. |
| <3> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Lake Mills - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <4> | When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 920 code has been Overlayed with the 274 area code. New phone numbers in the Lake Mills area will be assigned with one of these codes: 920 or 274. As a result, placing a call in the Lake Mills area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number). |
| <5> | ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Lake Mills). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Lake Mills or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). |
| <6> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <7> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at:
https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |