Lake Forest, CA population, income and ZIP codes

Lake Forest city is a small city in California, with 85,846 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #100 of 1,618 ranked by population — larger than 93% of them. The median age here is 40.4 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly older profile than the country as a whole. At this size the Census also publishes one-year estimates; the five-year values used here are steadier and let you compare against smaller neighbours on the same basis.

Households in Lake Forest city earn a median of $131,378 a year, 67.3% above the national figure of $78,538 and 44% above the $91,111 median for the 1,050 California cities we cover. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 8.3% of residents here, below the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Lake Forest city is valued at $876,300, 188.8% above the national figure and 49% above the $589,600 peer median, while median gross rent runs $2,616 a month, 86.1% above the national figure, or roughly $31,392 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 23.9% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 6.7×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is out of reach on local earnings alone and the ownership market leans on outside income, equity or dual high earners. 70.7% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.

Home values sit at 6.7× median household income, far past the 3.9× national mark, so ownership costs here are set by something other than local wages — second homes, retirees with equity, or commuters earning elsewhere.

No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.