HomeMinnesotaWashington CountyForest Lake city
Forest Lake city, Minnesota: commercial real estate data.
Forest Lake city is a Census city of 20,729 people across 30.54 square miles of land, in Washington County. Median household income is $92,944, 72.9 percent of occupied homes are owned, and the SBA record carries 47 7(a) approvals to borrowers here worth $21.9 m.
76 sourced place values · tier FULL · 8 sections
Forest Lake
What Forest Lake is
- Census place typecity
- Land area30.54 sq mi
- Water area4.98 sq mi
- Population per square mile of land679
- County holding the largest share of its areaWashington 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.
Forest Lake
How many people live in Forest Lake
- Population20,729
- Median age39.6
- Population under 184,814
- Share under 1823.2 percent
- Population 65 and over3,501
- Share 65 and over16.9 percent
- Households8,286
- Family households5,569
- Share of households that are families67.2 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Forest Lake
Income and work in Forest Lake
- Median household income$92,944
- Per capita income$46,249
- Civilian labor force11,831
- Employed11,322
- Unemployed509 plus or minus 275
- Unemployment rate4.3 percent plus or minus 2.3
- Adults 25 and over14,090
- Adults 25 and over with a high school diploma or higher94.6 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a bachelor degree or higher35.4 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a graduate degree11.7 percent plus or minus 2.9
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Forest Lake
Housing in Forest Lake
- Housing units8,723
- Occupied units8,286
- Vacant units437 plus or minus 200
- Vacancy rate5.0 percent plus or minus 2.3
- Owner occupied6,042
- Renter occupied2,244
- Ownership rate72.9 percent
- Median owner-occupied home value$393,500
- Median gross rent, monthly$1,421
- Annual rent as a share of median income18.3 percent
- Single family units6,406
- Share single family73.4 percent
- Units in buildings of two or more2,143 plus or minus 448
- Share in buildings of two or more24.6 percent plus or minus 5.0
- Mobile homes174 plus or minus 114
- Median year structure built1988
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Forest Lake
How Forest Lake gets to work
- Workers 16 and over who commute9,126
- Commuting under 15 minutes2,994
- Share commuting under 15 minutes32.8 percent
- Commuting 30 minutes or more3,604
- Share commuting 30 minutes or more39.5 percent
- Drove alone72.2 percent
- Carpooled6.6 percent plus or minus 1.8
- Public transport0.2 percent plus or minus 0.3
- Walked2.5 percent plus or minus 0.9
- Worked from home17.7 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Forest Lake
SBA 7(a) lending to Forest Lake borrowers
- Approvals47
- Gross approval$21,855,700
- Average approval$465,015
- Median approval$150,000
- Ninetieth percentile approval$1,147,000
- Largest approval$5,000,000
- Jobs supported607
- Jobs per approval12.9
- Loans with a final outcome5
- Paid in full5
- Charged off0
- Median term120 months
- Share on real estate terms of 20 years or more17.0 percent
- Share to franchises6.4 percent
- Distinct lenders19
- Distinct industries by NAICS35
A charge-off rate is not published here. only 5 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.
Forest Lake
SBA 504 lending to Forest Lake borrowers
- Approvals16
- Gross approval$10,316,000
- Average approval$644,750
- Median approval$460,000
- Largest approval$2,080,000
- Jobs supported94
- Loans with a final outcome8
- Charged off1
- Median term240 months
- Distinct CDCs4
US Small Business Administration, 504 FOIA release, FY2010 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Washington County, not Forest Lake
Washington County context, not Forest Lake figures
These are Washington County figures. There is no place level equivalent published for any of them, so they are shown as the county backdrop and never as Forest Lake measurements.
- Establishments in Washington County6,542
- Employment at those establishments, Washington County95,631
- Covered employment, Washington County95,625
- Average annual pay, Washington County$60,700
- Average weekly wage, Washington County$1,167
- Housing units permitted, Washington County1,397
- Of those, single family, Washington County1,261
- County product, 2024, Washington County$17,077,663,000
- County product change over the prior year, Washington County4.0 percent
- Average income of an arriving household, Washington County$87,864
Every figure in this section is published for Washington County as a whole and is not a measurement of Forest Lake. 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.
- This place is not listed as a community in the FEMA Community Status Book, so no NFIP participation or CRS class is shown.
- 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
Forest Lake questions, answered from the record.
How many people live in Forest Lake, Minnesota?
20,729, in 8,286 households. Forest Lake city covers 30.54 square miles of land, which is 679 people per square mile. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
What county is Forest Lake in?
Washington 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 Forest Lake?
$92,944. The median owner-occupied home is valued at $393,500. Median gross rent is $1,421 per month. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
How much SBA lending goes to Forest Lake businesses?
47 7(a) approvals totalling $21.9 m, across 19 lenders, median approval $150,000, plus 16 504 approvals worth $10.3 m. These count approvals to borrowers whose address is in Forest Lake, not projects sited inside the place boundary, and they are approvals recorded in the release rather than loans disbursed.
Do SBA loans to Forest Lake borrowers get paid back?
No rate is published for Forest Lake. only 5 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.
Are the county figures on this page Forest Lake figures?
No, and they are labelled so. County Business Patterns, QCEW, the Building Permits Survey, BEA product and IRS migration are published for Washington 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 Forest Lake.
Is zoning published for Forest Lake?
Not yet. The zoning layer is in build. Nothing on this page presents parcel level zoning.
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