Living in Forest Lake, IL
Forest Lake is a small town of 1,865 people in Lake County, Illinois. It's about 27 miles from Kenosha, WI and 32 miles from Chicago, IL, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 82°F and winter highs 29°F, with about 42 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $346k and rent runs about $1k a month.
1,865people
$346kTypical home
$1,477/moRent
82° / 29°Summer / winter
42"Snow
224Sunny days
129Rain/snow days
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Size & setting
- Small town of 1,865
- Part of a metro area
- About 5,329 people per sq mi
- 32 mi to Chicago, IL
- 27 mi to Kenosha, WI
- 2 mi to the nearest town of 10k+
Money
- Typical home $346k (≈$2,184/mo)
- Median rent $1,477/mo
- Median household income $96k
- Property tax about 1.8% of value
- 5.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 82°F
- Winter highs around 29°F
- Somewhat humid summers (dew point 62°F)
- 224 sunny days a year (73 totally clear)
- 141 cloudy days a year
- 46 of 90 winter days are gray
- 129 days a year with rain or snow
- 42" of snow a year
- 13 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- Rarely hits 100°F
- 31 nights a year below 10°F
- Windier than most places
Safety
- Very low violent crime (116 per 100k), county-wide
- Very low property crime (724 per 100k), county-wide
People
- Median age 42
- 51% of households have kids
- 10% are 65 or older
- 48% have a college degree
- Mixed community
- 4% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 35 min
- 1% walk or take transit to work
- 18 mi to ORD airport
- 18 mi to ORD (major hub)
- 16 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 95% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1995
- 97% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Flat, open land
- Elevation 827 ft
- 619 mi to the ocean
- 12 mi to a big lake
- 6 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 16 mi to the nearest ski area
- 2 mi to the nearest campground
- 181 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 2,784 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 406 bars within 25 mi
- 782 coffee shops within 25 mi
- 6 music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 96 museums within 25 mi
- 23 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 8 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the top 20% of Illinois districts (reading)
- Grocery store in town
- 7 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 7 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- Vet in town
- 4 mi to the nearest dog park
- 4 congregations per 10k people
- 6 mi to the nearest college
Politics
- Lake County: D+21 in 2024
- Illinois: D+11 in 2024
Natural hazards
- Very low hurricane risk
- High tornado risk
- Very low wildfire risk
- Very low earthquake risk
- Moderate flood risk
- Very low drought risk
- High winter storm risk
- Low heat wave risk
- Very low volcano risk
Some of this place's Census numbers are blended with county figures because its survey sample is small.