Save town Compare Needs More Love
Town guide

Lake Forest

A city of 86,281 people in California
Be the first to joinEarn karma for joining →
1

Now in Lake Forest

What’s happening this week

All posts →
This week+ What’s happening in Lake Forest?
From your neighbors

What’s happening

A preview of what neighbors share. Be the first to post in Lake Forest.

Weather

Forecast →
Coming up

Upcoming events

Nothing on the calendar yet

Put the next local happening — a market, a meeting, a concert — on the map.

Add an event →
Around town

Local news

All news →

Headlines via Google News · Articles belong to their publishers.

2

Around town

The places and views that make it Lake Forest

Explore places →

Outdoors in Lake Forest

Parks & trails →

Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US

3

Know Lake Forest

The town at a glance, and the guide to how things work

Open the full guide →

About Lake Forest

City in California, United States
1991Established
85,858Population
16.7 sq miArea
486 ftElevation

Lake Forest is a city in Orange County, California, United States. The population was 85,858 at the 2020 census. Lake Forest incorporated as a city on December 20, 1991. Before incorporation, the community had been known as El Toro (in Spanish, "the bull"). In 2000, Lake Forest voted to expand its city limits to include the master-planned developments of Foothill Ranch and Portola Hills. This expansion brought new homes and commercial centers to the city's northeastern boundary. Lake Forest has two lakes from which the city gets its name. The lakes are man-made, and condominiums and custom homes ranging from large to small line their shores. Neighborhood associations manage the lakes (Lake …

Official town website ↗

From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)

Town numbers

ZIP code92609, 92630, 92610
Area code949
Living in Lake Forest

Housing in Lake Forest

$1.18M▲ 0.7% in a year Typical home value · Zillow

The typical Lake Forest home is worth about $1,179,000, up 0.7% in a year, 54% above the California typical home.

A seller's market

Buyer’sBalancedSeller’s
Days on market33
Sale-to-list99.9%
Sold in May73
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data CenterHousing market →

Safety in Lake Forest

B

Safety Grade B

Lake Forest reports less crime per resident than 63% of the U.S. towns and cities we grade.

Violent crime per 1,000
Lake Forest 1.6
California 4.3
U.S. 3.3
Property crime per 1,000
Lake Forest 6.9
California 18.2
U.S. 15.5
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to policeCrime & safety →

Health in Lake Forest

Compared with California

21better than CA

of 32 measures CDC estimates. The other 11 are too close to call.

BetterToo close to callWorse

What stands out

Care nearby

Memorialcare Saddleback Medical CenterLaguna Hills · 3.7 mi · ER
Sos Community Health Center-Mission ViejoMission Viejo · 1.6 mi · sliding-scale fees
Primary careNo shortage
DentalNo shortage
Mental healthNo shortage
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CDC's estimate for Lake Forest · CMS · HRSAHealth in Lake Forest →

Schools in Lake Forest

All Lake Forest schools →
A

School Grade A

The public schools Lake Forest’s kids attend, from kindergarten through graduation, outperform 87% of California’s districts on state tests and graduation. Among towns with similar incomes, they rank near the top.

#85Best public schoolsof 574 in CA
DistrictSaddleback Valley UnifiedSchools19

School data from the U.S. Department of Education (NCES, EDFacts). The School Grade is our own summary of state test results and graduation rates, graded within CA. Ratings are from neighbors.

Famous people from Lake ForestWriters, athletes, leaders and more who were born in Lake Forest.Meet them →

How things work in Lake Forest

All explainers →
You’re browsing

Lake Forest

California · CA
View town boundary →
Township / city / CDP overlaps possible.
Loading boundary…

Lake Forest is your selected town. The feed includes posts assigned to this town, not a distance radius or ZIP code.

Neighborhoods narrow the feed further, while townwide announcements, events, and issues remain visible.

Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01