Work & commute · Lake Forest

Work & commute in Lake Forest, CA

Most working residents leave Lake Forest for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Irvine (19%), Los Angeles (5%) and Santa Ana (5%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

3,196 of 40,533 working residents

Typical commute

13 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

24%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 37,337 Lake Forest residents head out of town to work, 3,196 work right here, and 30,213 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lake Forest.

37,337live here, work elsewhere

3,196live and work here

30,213work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lake Forest goes to work

Irvine5.7 mi away

19%7,824

Lake Forest (in town)right here

8%3,196

Los Angeles49.1 mi away

5%2,070

Santa Ana13.2 mi away

5%1,985

Mission Viejo3.3 mi away

4%1,747

Newport Beach11.1 mi away

4%1,480

Costa Mesa13.6 mi away

3%1,242

Anaheim14.7 mi away

3%1,209

Orange14 mi away

3%1,098

San Diego65.4 mi away

2%935

Everywhere elseother towns and states

44%17,747

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Lake Forest commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

38%

33%

16%

13%

38%Under 10 mi

33%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

13%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lake Forest is balanced between jobs and homes

0.82jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.82 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Lake Forest are

33,409 jobs are based in Lake Forest. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lake Forest’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Lake Forest

33,409 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month67%

Jobs Lake Forest residents hold

40,533 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month71%

+4%

Jobs based in Lake Forest, 2013 → 2023: 32,223 → 33,409. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.