HomeIllinoisLake CountyLake Forest city
Lake Forest city, Illinois: commercial real estate data.
Lake Forest city is a Census city of 19,416 people across 17.20 square miles of land, in Lake County. Median household income is $235,081, 88.8 percent of occupied homes are owned, and the SBA record carries 29 7(a) approvals to borrowers here worth $20.2 m.
81 sourced place values · tier FULL · 9 sections · underlined figures are computed by MMCG Analytics, not published by the agency
Lake Forest
What Lake Forest is
- Census place typecity
- Land area17.2 sq mi
- Water area0.07 sq mi
- Population per square mile of land1,129
- County holding the largest share of its areaLake County, 100.0 percent
US Census Bureau, cartographic boundary file, places, 2024 vintage. US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Lake Forest
How many people live in Lake Forest
- Population19,416
- Median age46.1
- Population under 183,735
- Share under 1819.2 percent
- Population 65 and over5,184
- Share 65 and over26.7 percent
- Households6,900
- Family households5,260
- Share of households that are families76.2 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Lake Forest
Income and work in Lake Forest
- Median household income$235,081
- Per capita income$109,918
- Civilian labor force8,756
- Employed8,602
- Unemployed154 plus or minus 69
- Unemployment rate1.8 percent plus or minus 0.8
- Adults 25 and over13,295
- Adults 25 and over with a high school diploma or higher98.1 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a bachelor degree or higher80.5 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a graduate degree41.9 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Lake Forest
Housing in Lake Forest
- Housing units7,282
- Occupied units6,900
- Vacant units382 plus or minus 192
- Vacancy rate5.2 percent plus or minus 2.6
- Owner occupied6,124
- Renter occupied776 plus or minus 175
- Ownership rate88.8 percent
- Median owner-occupied home value$938,300
- Median gross rent, monthly$1,815
- Annual rent as a share of median income9.3 percent
- Single family units6,067
- Share single family83.3 percent
- Units in buildings of two or more1,210 plus or minus 268
- Share in buildings of two or more16.6 percent plus or minus 3.6
- Mobile homes5 plus or minus 8
- Median year structure built1976
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Lake Forest
How Lake Forest gets to work
- Workers 16 and over who commute5,971
- Commuting under 15 minutes1,630 plus or minus 327
- Share commuting under 15 minutes27.3 percent
- Commuting 30 minutes or more2,423 plus or minus 648
- Share commuting 30 minutes or more40.6 percent plus or minus 10.0
- Drove alone46.1 percent
- Carpooled1.8 percent plus or minus 0.9
- Public transport12.3 percent plus or minus 6.5
- Walked5.5 percent plus or minus 1.3
- Worked from home30.3 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Lake Forest
SBA loans in Lake Forest (7(a))
- Approvals29
- Gross approval$20,238,500
- Average approval$697,879
- Median approval$150,000
- Ninetieth percentile approval$2,000,000
- Largest approval$5,000,000
- Jobs supported260
- Jobs per approval9.0
- Loans with a final outcome3
- Paid in full2
- Charged off1
- Median term120 months
- Share on real estate terms of 20 years or more0.0 percent
- Share to franchises3.4 percent
- Distinct lenders18
- Distinct industries by NAICS21
A charge-off rate is not published here. only 3 resolved loans, too few to publish a rate, and a rate over that few outcomes would move several points on one loan.
US Small Business Administration, 7(a) FOIA release, FY2020 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Lake Forest
SBA loans in Lake Forest (504)
- Approvals13
- Gross approval$26,278,000
- Average approval$2,021,385
- Median approval$1,155,000
- Largest approval$5,500,000
- Jobs supported219
- Loans with a final outcome1
- Charged off0
- Median term240 months
- Distinct CDCs3
US Small Business Administration, 504 FOIA release, FY2010 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Lake Forest
Flood risk in Lake Forest
- Listed NFIP communities1
- Of those, participating1
- Best Community Rating System classClass 7
- NFIP community number170374
- Currently effective map date10/05/23
FEMA, National Flood Insurance Program Community Status Book, Community Status Book, as retrieved.
Lake County, not Lake Forest
Lake County context, not Lake Forest figures
These are Lake County figures. There is no place level equivalent published for any of them, so they are shown as the county backdrop and never as Lake Forest measurements.
- Establishments in Lake County20,076
- Employment at those establishments, Lake County337,069
- Covered employment, Lake County329,354
- Average annual pay, Lake County$91,042
- Average weekly wage, Lake County$1,751
- Housing units permitted, Lake County1,042
- Of those, single family, Lake County531
- County product, 2024, Lake County$82,868,798,000
- County product change over the prior year, Lake County3.7 percent
- Average income of an arriving household, Lake County$132,863
Every figure in this section is published for Lake County as a whole and is not a measurement of Lake Forest. It is here because a county backdrop is what a credit committee reads a place against, and it is labelled so that it can never be quoted as the place's own.
US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2023. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2024 annual averages. US Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, 2024 annual. US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional, table CAGDP2, CAGDP2, through 2024. US Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income county migration flows, 2021 to 2022 filing years.
Coverage
What this page does not hold.
Every item below could be filled with a plausible figure. None of them is. On a page a lender may read, a number that cannot be traced is worse than an absence, so the absences are named.
- Parcel level detail, zoning and flood zone at an address are resolved in the platform, not on this page.
SBA figures count approvals to borrowers whose address is in the place. They are not approvals for projects inside the place boundary: the tape records a borrower city and a project county, and those can differ.
Common questions
Lake Forest questions, answered from the record.
How many people live in Lake Forest, Illinois?
19,416, in 6,900 households. Lake Forest city covers 17.20 square miles of land, which is 1,129 people per square mile. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
What county is Lake Forest in?
Lake County, which holds 100.0 percent of the place by area. Source: US Census Bureau, cartographic boundary file, places, 2024 vintage.
What is the median household income in Lake Forest?
$235,081. The median owner-occupied home is valued at $938,300. Median gross rent is $1,815 per month. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
How much SBA lending goes to Lake Forest businesses?
29 7(a) approvals totalling $20.2 m, across 18 lenders, median approval $150,000, plus 13 504 approvals worth $26.3 m. These count approvals to borrowers whose address is in Lake Forest, not projects sited inside the place boundary, and they are approvals recorded in the release rather than loans disbursed.
Do SBA loans to Lake Forest borrowers get paid back?
No rate is published for Lake Forest. only 3 resolved loans, too few to publish a rate, and a percentage over that few outcomes would move several points on a single loan. The counts are shown instead.
Is Lake Forest in the National Flood Insurance Program?
Yes. Lake Forest appears in the FEMA Community Status Book as community 170374, carrying Community Rating System class 7, which is a premium discount for exceeding the programme minimum. Whether a specific parcel sits in a mapped special flood hazard area is an address level question the platform answers.
Are the county figures on this page Lake Forest figures?
No, and they are labelled so. County Business Patterns, QCEW, the Building Permits Survey, BEA product and IRS migration are published for Lake County as a whole and there is no place level equivalent. They appear in one clearly marked section as context and are never presented as measurements of Lake Forest.
Is zoning published for Lake Forest?
Not yet. The zoning layer is in build. Nothing on this page presents parcel level zoning.