Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Lake Forest's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Lake Forest?
Your $100,000 in Lake Forest has the same purchasing power as $72,348 in the average US city. You'd need $27,652 more here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Lake Forest's cost index of 138, sorted by closest match.
People moving to Lake Forest usually have at least one specific reason. Most of them line up with what the data shows: above-average earnings, not just for a few people, among the safer us cities of its size, plus 2 more things worth knowing. Here's what's actually on the table.
Median household income in Lake Forest is $128,358 — well above the US median of roughly $75k. It's a city where high-paying industries (tech, finance, professional services) cluster, and the income distribution tilts noticeably upward relative to most of the country.
Lake Forest reports roughly 1,196 crime incidents per 100,000 residents, well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. As always, citywide numbers paper over real differences between neighborhoods — but the broader trend here is on the calmer end of the US distribution.
The average one-way commute in Lake Forest is about 25 minutes — short by US standards (the national average is closer to 27). Over a year of working days, that's hundreds of hours that don't get spent in traffic, which is the kind of thing you notice in the weekend rather than the weekday.
49% of adults 25 and over in Lake Forest hold a bachelor's degree or higher — meaningfully above the US average of around 36%. That correlates with the things you'd expect: stronger schools, more white-collar employers, more bookstores than the population alone would predict.
Reasons are pulled from Lake Forest's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Now and then. Lake Forest's winters are cool rather than truly cold — about 37°F on average — so most of the precipitation falls as rain. A snowy morning happens a few times a season; sustained accumulation is rare.
Mild on the cold side. Lake Forest's winter average of about 37°F is the kind of weather where you want a jacket but the heating bill is manageable. Snow is rare, frost is occasional, and the lawn never really browns out.
Genuinely hot. Summer in Lake Forest averages about 103°F, and peak afternoons run well over a hundred. Outdoor plans move to mornings and evenings; AC is the most-used appliance in the house.
Zone 9, give or take a half-zone. Lake Forest's typical winter low puts it in that band on the USDA Hardiness map, which is what nurseries label plants against. Use Zone 9 as your starting filter; the USDA's interactive map is more precise for borderline cases.
Lake Forest is at about 627 feet (191 m) above sea level. High enough to be solidly above any coastal concern, low enough that altitude isn't a factor.
By the numbers, yes. Lake Forest reports roughly 1,196 crime incidents per 100,000 residents — well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. The big caveat applies as always: every city has neighborhoods that look nothing like the citywide average. But the citywide average here is genuinely good.
Yes — Lake Forest is one of the more expensive places to live in the US. The cost-of-living index is 138, about 38% above the national average. Housing is the dominant factor, and salaries here have to be high to compensate.
Mostly car-dependent. Lake Forest's Walk Score of 36/100 means a handful of errands work on foot — depending on the neighborhood — but most residents still need a car for the rest.
Roughly $96,754 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Lake Forest runs about $2,482/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.