Living in Lake Forest, IL
Lake Forest is a small city of 19,416 people in Lake County, Illinois. It's about 24 miles from Kenosha, WI and 29 miles from Chicago, IL, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 83°F and winter highs 31°F, with about 37 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $938k and rent runs about $2k a month.
19,416people
$938kTypical home
$1,815/moRent
83° / 31°Summer / winter
37"Snow
162Sunny days
Is Lake Forest right for you?
Take the 5-minute quiz and see your match — and how it stacks up against 34,000 other places.
Size & setting
- Small city of 19,416
- Part of a metro area
- About 1,129 people per sq mi
- 29 mi to Chicago, IL
- 24 mi to Kenosha, WI
- Has its own stores and services
Money
- Typical home $938k (≈$5,917/mo)
- Median rent $1,815/mo
- Median household income $235k
- Property tax about 1.1% of value
- 2.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 83°F
- Winter highs around 31°F
- Somewhat humid summers (dew point 62°F)
- 162 sunny days a year (30 totally clear)
- 203 cloudy days a year
- 61 of 90 winter days are gray
- 37" of snow a year
- 12 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- Rarely hits 100°F
- 23 nights a year below 10°F
- Windier than most places
Safety
- Very low violent crime (29 per 100k)
- Very low property crime (504 per 100k)
People
- Median age 46
- 29% of households have kids
- 26% are 65 or older
- 80% have a college degree
- Mixed community
- 11% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 34 min
- 17% walk or take transit to work
- 18 mi to ORD airport
- 18 mi to ORD (major hub)
- 11 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 83% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1976
- 95% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Flat, open land
- Elevation 679 ft
- 610 mi to the ocean
- 2 mi to a big lake
- 6 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 24 mi to the nearest ski area
- 6 mi to the nearest campground
- 152 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 3,385 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 619 bars within 25 mi
- 905 coffee shops within 25 mi
- 11 music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 95 museums within 25 mi
- 34 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 6 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the top 15% of Illinois districts (reading)
- Grocery store in town
- 1 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 1 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- Vet in town
- 2 mi to the nearest dog park
- 4 congregations per 10k people
- 2 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