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Lake Forest, IL
Real Estate & Demographic Data






Lake Forest profile


Living in Lake Forest



Lake Forest is a medium-sized city located in the state of Illinois. With a population of 19,253 people and six constituent neighborhoods, Lake Forest is the 128th largest community in Illinois.

Lake Forest home prices are not only among the most expensive in Illinois, but Lake Forest real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

Also of interest is that Lake Forest has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

A relatively large number of people in Lake Forest telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 23.55% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Because of many things, Lake Forest is a very good place for families to consider. With an enviable combination of good schools, low crime, college-educated neighbors who tend to support education because of their own experiences, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family properties, Lake Forest really has some of the features that families look for when choosing a good community to raise children. Is Lake Forest perfect? Of course not, and if you like frenetic nightlife, it will be far from your cup of tea. But overall this is a solid community, with many things to recommend it as a family-friendly place to live.

One downside of living in Lake Forest, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 31.43 minutes every day commuting to work. However, local public transit is widely used. For those who would prefer to avoid driving entirely and leave their car at home, it may be an option to use the transit instead.

Even though Lake Forest is a smaller city, it has many people who hop on public transportation – mostly the train for their daily commute to work. Typically, these people are commuting to good jobs in the surrounding cities.

Do you have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in Lake Forest. 80.98% of adults here have a 4-year degree or graduate degree, whereas the national average for all cities and towns is just 21.84%.

The per capita income in Lake Forest in 2018 was $99,558, which is wealthy relative to Illinois and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $398,232 for a family of four.

Lake Forest is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Lake Forest home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Lake Forest residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Lake Forest include German, Irish, English, Italian, and Polish.

The most common language spoken in Lake Forest is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.