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Lake Forest

A city of 19,416 people in Illinois
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Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US

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About Lake Forest

City in Illinois, United States
1861Established
19,367Population
17.2 sq miArea
663 ftElevation

Lake Forest is a city in Lake County, Illinois, United States, 31 miles (50 km) north of downtown Chicago. The population was 19,367 at the 2020 census. The city is along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the North Shore. Lake Forest was founded with Lake Forest College and was laid out as a town in 1857, a stop for travelers making their way south to Chicago. The Lake Forest City Hall, designed by Charles Sumner Frost, was completed in 1898. It originally housed the fire department, the Lake Forest Library, and city offices.

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

Living in Lake Forest

Housing in Lake Forest

$1.25M▲ 10.8% in a year Typical home value · Zillow

The typical Lake Forest home is worth about $1,248,000, up 10.8% in a year, 319% above the Illinois typical home.

A seller's market

Buyer’sBalancedSeller’s
Days on market49
Sale-to-list103.1%
Sold in May29
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data CenterHousing market →

Safety in Lake Forest

A

Safety Grade A

Lake Forest reports less crime per resident than 86% of the U.S. towns and cities we grade.

Violent crime per 1,000
Lake Forest 0.2
Illinois 2.6
U.S. 3.3
Property crime per 1,000
Lake Forest 4.8
Illinois 15.6
U.S. 15.5
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to policeCrime & safety →
Famous people from Lake ForestWriters, athletes, leaders and more who were born in Lake Forest.Meet them →

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Lake Forest

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