Maple Lake is a growing community nestled among the lakes in Central Minnesota. The community’s location 40 miles west of Minneapolis and 25 miles southeast of St. Cloud provides easy access to both metropolitan areas.
Centrally located in Wright County, Maple Lake is on State Highway 55 and is 15 miles south of I-94 and 10 miles north of State Highway 12. Other major roads linking Maple Lake to surrounding communities include County Roads 7, 8 and 37.
Wright County grew by almost 39 percent from 89,986 in 2000 to 124,700 in 2010. Maple Lake had one of its largest growth spurts in recent memory, increasing in population from 1,633 in 2000 to 2,059 in 2010 for an increase of 26 percent. In the recent recession, growth in Maple Lake slowed dramatically, but in 2004 and 2006, Maple Lake was growing at a pace of 50 new homes a year, thanks to residential housing developments on the northwest corner of Maple Lake that included the Paumen Additions and the Happy Knoll Development. Since 2000, more than 200 building
permits have been authorized for new homes.
The Annandale-Maple Lake-Howard Lake Wastewater Treatment facility went online in the fall of 2009 at the corner of Cty. Rds. 7 and 105 in Albion Township.
In 2010, the city moved its municipal liquor store into a new 5,000 square foot facility at the Lake Region complex on Hwy. 55.
Industry in Maple Lake continues to grow with the 2011 move of Airlift Doors and Carefree Lawn into the Jude Industrial Park.
Maple Lake’s top ten employers are:
1. MP NexLevel, 725; 2. Bernatello’s Pizza, 300; 3. Maple Lake Schools, 152;
4. PACE/Product Technologies Division, 130; 5. Rhino Rotomolding, 90; 6. Wright County Community Action, 66; 7. M&M Bus Service and M&M Express Sales & Service, 65; 8. Platinum Plus Printing, 60;
9. Cedar Lake Engineering, 45; 10. Airlift Doors, 40.