Welcome to Lake Forest ...

The city of Lake Forest is located in Lake County<1>.

Lake Forest was established in 1857.

A typical abbreviation for Lake Forest: Lk. Forest

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Lake Forest has a population of 19,457 people<2> (see below for details).

The community of Lake Forest is 670 feet [204 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Lake Forest lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area codes for Lake Forest: (847) and (224)<4>

The ZIP code for Lake Forest: 60045<5>

Websites for Lake Forest ...

Official Website:   www.citylf.lfc.edu/

Chamber of Commerce:   www.lakeforestonline.com/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Lake Forest had an population of 19,457 people. This is an increase of 0.42% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 3% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Lake Forest had a population of 19,375 people. This makes Lake Forest the county's 13th most populous community.

The population of Lake Forest represents 0.15% of the population of Illinois (which has 12,830,632 people), making it the state's 125th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 19,375 people, the population of Lake Forest decreased 3.41% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 20,059 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Lake Forest.

Communities Also Named Lake Forest ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 27 communities that are also named Lake Forest - they are located in Alabama (2), California (2), Florida (3), Georgia (4), Louisiana (2), Manitoba, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina (2), South Carolina (2), Tennessee, Texas (2), Virginia and Wisconsin.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Lake Forest.

Communities near Lake Forest ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Lake Forest.

• Waukegan
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waukegan
  • Waukegan is located in Lake County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 85,453 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Waukegan <6>
• Arlington Heights
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington Heights
  • Arlington Heights is located in Cook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 73,999 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arlington Heights <6>
• Evanston
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evanston
  • Evanston is located in Cook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 72,683 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Evanston <6>
• Schaumburg
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Schaumburg have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schaumburg
  • Schaumburg is located in Cook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 72,049 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Schaumburg <6>
• Palatine
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Palatine have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palatine
  • Palatine is located in Cook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 66,830 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Palatine <6>
• Skokie
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Skokie have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skokie
  • Skokie is located in Cook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 62,404 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Skokie <6>
• Des Plaines
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Des Plaines have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Des Plaines
  • Des Plaines is located in Cook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 58,179 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Des Plaines <6>
• Mount Prospect
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Prospect have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Prospect
  • Mount Prospect is located in Cook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 53,299 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Prospect <6>
• Glenview
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenview
  • Glenview is located in Cook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 46,823 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glenview <6>
• Buffalo Grove
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buffalo Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Grove
  • Buffalo Grove is located in Lake County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 40,161 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buffalo Grove <6>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Lake Forest. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Lake Forest.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Lake Forest. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Lake Forest.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Lake Forest. Our list includes 9 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Lake Forest.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Lake Forest ...

Looking for more information about Lake Forest? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Lake Forest, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Lake Forest.

Adding Lake Forest to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Lake Forest in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Lake Forest was in the book titled List of Post Offices in the United States (1870).

We also found Lake Forest in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Lake Forest.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Lake Forest: www.citylf.lfc.edu/

The official website for Lake County: www.co.lake.il.us

The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov