North Shore · Lake County
Lake Forest
Metra UP-N and MD-N from Lake Forest (UP-N) to Ogilvie Transportation Center, 56 to 66 minutes on a weekday. Most of the town is served by Lake Forest School District 67 and Lake Forest Community High School District 115.
Key figures
Typical home, August 2026
$1,248,040
+66% since January 2020 ($752,419)
Payment on it at 7%
$6,643
a month, 20% down ($249,608), 30 years
Median household income
$235,081
±$24,243, 2020–2024
Payment as a share of that income
33.9%
18.3% in January 2020
Householders under 35 who own
—
Sample too small to report reliably
Monthly gap, same share of pay as 2020
$3,056
$459,391 of assistance closes it
Home values since 2000, against pay
Zillow Home Value Index, monthly. Earnings: BLS median usual weekly earnings, full-time workers 16+, annual averages; Q2 2026 for this year. Over a long span the comparison depends on the starting year, which is why the site measures what the monthly payment takes from pay, and compares it with January 2020.
The gap, job by job
By the site's method the monthly gap in Lake Forest is the same for every job whose pay grew at the national pace: it is the part of the payment rise that pay growth did not cover. What differs from job to job is how much of each paycheck the payment now takes.
| Job (Chicago metro median pay) | Jan 2020 | Today | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accountant$82,360 a year | 52.3% | 96.8% | +44.5 pts |
| Carpenter$80,440 a year | 53.5% | 99.1% | +45.6 pts |
| Electrician$102,350 a year | 42.0% | 77.9% | +35.8 pts |
| Elementary school teacher$78,390 a year | 54.9% | 101.7% | +46.8 pts |
| Firefighter$82,820 a year | 52.0% | 96.2% | +44.3 pts |
| High school teacher$98,970 a year | 43.5% | 80.5% | +37.1 pts |
| Paramedic$77,670 a year | 55.4% | 102.6% | +47.2 pts |
| Physical therapist$105,720 a year | 40.7% | 75.4% | +34.7 pts |
| Plumber$103,380 a year | 41.6% | 77.1% | +35.5 pts |
| Police officer$107,810 a year | 39.9% | 73.9% | +34.0 pts |
| Registered nurse$100,490 a year | 42.8% | 79.3% | +36.5 pts |
| Social worker$64,790 a year | 66.4% | 123.0% | +56.6 pts |
One earner. Two-earner households and other rates: use the explorer below.
Homes in Lake Forest
No live listings in Lake Forest yet. See homes in other towns.
Try a household
In Lake Forest, the payment on the typical home takes 79.3% of the pay of a registered nurse today, up from 42.8% in January 2020.
- Typical home (2026-08)
- $1,248,040
- Same home, January 2020
- $752,419
- Payment today at 7.00%
- $6,643
- Payment at the 2020 share of pay
- $3,586
- Monthly gap
- $3,056
- Assistance that closes it
- $459,391
Principal and interest, 20% down, 30-year fixed. Typical home: Zillow Home Value Index. Pay: BLS median wage, Chicago metro, May 2025; January 2020 pay is estimated with the national growth in median full-time earnings (+30.7%). Latest weekly average rate 7.03% (2026-09-24). More on Lake Forest
Sources
- Typical home value: Zillow Home Value Index, Lake Forest, August 2026 (and January 2020, January 2000).
- Median household income and ownership by age: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, place 1741105.
- Pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro, annual median.
- Trains: Metra weekday inbound timetable, scheduled minutes, retrieved September 28, 2026.
- Schools: district boundaries from Census TIGER and district websites. MD-N also serves Lake Forest (to Union Station). District 67 covers about 92% of the city's area; District 115 about 95%.