Demographics of Lake Forest city, California

Lake Forest city, California had 86,333 people on July 1, 2025, by the Census Bureau’s estimate: +402 since July 2020. Age, income, poverty, housing and origin below come from the survey, averaged over 2020–2024, each with its margin of error.

Lake Forest city, in four figures

86,333
Population: July 1, 2025, Vintage 2025 estimate. The survey’s 2020–⁠2024 figure is 86,281 ±81.; +0.5%
Change since July 2020: +402 people.; 40.2 ±1.1
Median age: ACS 2020–⁠2024.; $135,175 ±$4,503
Median household income: ACS 2020–⁠2024, in 2024 dollars.

Population, year by year

July 1 estimates from the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025. The Bureau publishes no births, deaths or migration for a place, so the change is the difference between one July estimate and the next.

Lake Forest city, California's population grew 0.5% from July 2020 to July 2025, against +3.1% nationally

The July 1 estimate of Lake Forest city, California's resident population and the nation's, each year of the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025, as a share of its July 2020 level (= 100).

Source: The Census Bureau

About this chart

The figures

Lake Forest city, California's population grew 0.5% from July 2020 to July 2025, against +3.1% nationally. The July 1 estimate of Lake Forest city, California's resident population and the nation's, each year of the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025, as a share of its July 2020 level (= 100).
July 1	Population	Index	United States
2020	85,931	100.0	100.0
2021	85,951	100.0	100.2
2022	86,054	100.1	100.7
2023	86,188	100.3	101.6
2024	86,592	100.8	102.5
2025	86,333	100.5	103.1

Population of Lake Forest city, California on July 1 of each year, Vintage 2025
July 1	Population	Change
2020	85,931	—
2021	85,951	+20
2022	86,054	+103
2023	86,188	+134
2024	86,592	+404
2025	86,333	−259

Age, 2020–2024

The median age is 40.2 ±1.1: for men 38.9 ±1.4 and for women 41.7 ±1.3. Shares are of everyone the survey counts, in the Bureau’s sex-by-age table (B01001).

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People in Lake Forest city by age, ACS 2020–2024
Age	People	Share	California	United States
Under 5	5,269 ±797	6.1% ±0.9	5.5% ±<0.1	5.6% ±<0.1
5 to 17	13,091 ±1,004	15.2% ±1.2	16.5% ±<0.1	16.3% ±<0.1
18 to 24	6,766 ±780	7.8% ±0.9	9.1% ±<0.1	9.1% ±<0.1
25 to 44	24,244 ±1,361	28.1% ±1.6	28.7% ±<0.1	26.9% ±<0.1
45 to 64	24,135 ±1,366	28.0% ±1.6	24.6% ±<0.1	24.8% ±<0.1
65 and over	12,776 ±925	14.8% ±1.1	15.7% ±<0.1	17.2% ±<0.1

Income and poverty, 2020–2024

Median household income is $135,175 ±$4,503, and income per person $60,633 ±$2,653, in 2024 dollars. The median is $99,122 ±$310 in California and $80,734 ±$166 in the United States.

Households by income

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Households in Lake Forest city by income, ACS 2020–2024
Household income	Households	Share	California	United States
Under $25,000	2,092 ±407	6.9% ±1.3	12.5% ±0.1	14.6% ±<0.1
$25,000 to $49,999	2,750 ±551	9.0% ±1.8	13.3% ±0.1	16.7% ±<0.1
$50,000 to $74,999	2,774 ±391	9.1% ±1.3	13.0% ±0.1	15.5% ±<0.1
$75,000 to $99,999	3,483 ±476	11.4% ±1.5	11.6% ±0.1	12.6% ±<0.1
$100,000 to $149,999	5,658 ±632	18.6% ±2.0	17.8% ±0.1	17.5% ±<0.1
$150,000 to $199,999	4,179 ±479	13.7% ±1.5	11.3% ±0.1	9.6% ±<0.1
$200,000 or more	9,530 ±692	31.3% ±2.2	20.5% ±0.1	13.4% ±0.1

Poverty by age

The poverty rate is the share of people whose family income is below the federal threshold for their family’s size, of everyone for whom the Bureau determines it (B17020).

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Poverty rate in Lake Forest city by age, ACS 2020–2024
Age	Below poverty	Rate	California	United States
All ages	7,305 ±1,433	8.5% ±1.7	12.0% ±0.1	12.5% ±0.1
Under 18	1,864 ±689	10.3% ±3.7	15.0% ±0.1	16.1% ±0.1
18 to 59	3,954 ±788	8.0% ±1.6	11.0% ±0.1	11.6% ±0.1
60 and over	1,487 ±362	8.1% ±1.9	11.5% ±0.1	11.0% ±<0.1

Housing, 2020–2024

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Housing in Lake Forest city, ACS 2020–2024
Measure	Lake Forest city	California	United States
Housing units	31,821 ±740	14,644,735 ±1,665	143,775,355 ±10,234
Occupied	95.7% ±3.1	92.5% ±0.1	89.9% ±0.1
Vacant	4.3% ±1.5	7.5% ±0.1	10.1% ±0.1
Owner occupied	70.5% ±2.3	55.9% ±0.3	65.2% ±0.3
Renter occupied	29.5% ±2.1	44.1% ±0.2	34.8% ±0.1
Median home value	$937,000 ±$27,448	$734,700 ±$1,307	$332,700 ±$236
Median gross rent	$2,672 ±$114	$2,036 ±$5	$1,413 ±$2
Median year built	1984 ±1	1976 ±1	1980 ±1

Occupied and vacant are shares of all housing units; owner and renter occupied are shares of occupied units. Value and rent are medians in 2024 dollars.

Origin and place of birth, 2020–2024

Hispanic or Latino origin is not a race in the Census Bureau’s tables. Here the people of Hispanic origin, of any race, are one row, and everyone else is counted by race alone (B03002), so the rows add to the whole.

Hispanic origin and race

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People in Lake Forest city by Hispanic origin and race, ACS 2020–2024
Origin	People	Share	California	United States
Hispanic or Latino	23,253 ±2,217	27.0% ±2.6	40.2% ±<0.1	19.3% ±<0.1
White alone, not Hispanic	38,065 ±1,995	44.1% ±2.3	33.8% ±<0.1	57.4% ±<0.1
Black alone, not Hispanic	2,086 ±729	2.4% ±0.8	5.2% ±<0.1	11.9% ±<0.1
Asian alone, not Hispanic	16,970 ±1,402	19.7% ±1.6	15.3% ±<0.1	5.9% ±<0.1
American Indian and Alaska Native alone, not Hispanic	9 to 247	< 0.1% to 0.3%	0.3% ±<0.1	0.5% ±<0.1
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone, not Hispanic	15 to 731	< 0.1% to 0.8%	0.3% ±<0.1	0.2% ±<0.1
Some other race alone, not Hispanic	218 to 1,088	0.3% to 1.3%	0.6% ±<0.1	0.6% ±<0.1
Two or more races, not Hispanic	4,753 ±949	5.5% ±1.1	4.4% ±<0.1	4.3% ±<0.1

A range (the estimate less and plus its margin) where the Bureau's estimate is too uncertain to state as one number: a coefficient of variation over 30%.

Place of birth and citizenship

“Born a citizen outside the states” counts people born in Puerto Rico, the island areas, or abroad to American parents. Naturalized citizens and those who are not citizens together make up the people born abroad (B05002).

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People in Lake Forest city by place of birth and citizenship, ACS 2020–2024
Born	People	Share	California	United States
Born in the state	45,952 ±1,656	53.3% ±1.9	56.5% ±0.1	57.3% ±<0.1
Born in another state	15,084 ±1,146	17.5% ±1.3	15.0% ±0.1	26.9% ±<0.1
Born a citizen outside the states	1,580 ±466	1.8% ±0.5	1.5% ±<0.1	1.7% ±<0.1
Born abroad	23,665 ±1,359	27.4% ±1.6	27.0% ±0.1	14.1% ±<0.1
Naturalized citizens	14,175 ±1,035	16.4% ±1.2	14.7% ±0.1	7.4% ±<0.1
Not citizens	9,490 ±1,225	11.0% ±1.4	12.3% ±0.1	6.8% ±<0.1

Lake Forest city among the places of California

96th of 661 places of 5,000 or more by the survey’s 2020–2024 count. Every one is listed on the California page.

Places of California near Lake Forest city in population, ACS 2020–2024
Place	ACS 2020–⁠2024
Westminster city	89,860 ±102
Manteca city	89,043 ±58
San Leandro city	87,826 ±42
Santa Barbara city	87,779 ±52
Citrus Heights city	86,995 ±51
Lake Forest city	86,281 ±81
Whittier city	86,165 ±55
San Ramon city	85,993 ±114
Livermore city	85,522 ±68
Hawthorne city	85,191 ±64
Folsom city	83,916 ±39

Elsewhere on the site

Reported crime in Lake Forest city, California

Rankings this appears in

No. 34 Places in California by median rent
No. 70 Places by median rent
No. 79 Places in California by median household income
No. 113 Places in California by homeownership rate
No. 113 Places in California by median home value
No. 124 Places in California by per capita income

Sources

Census Bureau population estimates — incorporated places and New England towns — U.S. Census Bureau · U.S. Government work · retrieved September 25, 2026
American Community Survey 5-year estimates — table-based Summary File · U.S. Government work

Compiled automatically from Census Bureau population estimates — incorporated places and New England towns and American Community Survey 5-year estimates — table-based Summary File by a checked SQL query · Editor: Kian O'Connor · How this site is built

Data retrieved September 25, 2026