Forest Lake has 0.1 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
The two grades for Forest Lake are A for jobs and income and C for walkability. Employers in Forest Lake report 88 jobs, and 894 of its residents work somewhere. Home is the office for 5% of workers (Illinois 16%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Forest Lake, in a few figures
Forest Lake is a place people come home to
There are 88 jobs based in Forest Lake, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Forest Lake has about 1,100 people in it, 43% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Forest Lake than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Forest Lake fell from 372 in 2013 to 88 in 2023, −76%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Forest Lake’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Forest Lake is Chicago, 32 miles away as the crow flies. 17% of working residents (148) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 894 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Forest Lake’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Forest Lake is better than 85% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Forest Lake’s grade up (ahead of 93% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Forest Lake could be anywhere from B− to A+.
Who commutes out of Forest Lake, and who commutes in
On a workday 893 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 87 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Forest Lake on a workday afternoon, 43% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
45% of the jobs in Forest Lake make or build things
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Forest Lake, 2013 → 2023: 372 → 88. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Forest Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Forest Lake works
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
17% of working residents work in Chicago
Where Forest Lake clocks in
17% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
About 33 minutes each way, longer than most of Illinois
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Forest Lake workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 973 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across Illinois: 78% drive alone, 7% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Most trips from Forest Lake start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Forest Lake is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 10.8% across Illinois.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,023 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.0% of Forest Lake households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Forest Lake’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,500, Forest Lake ranks 507th of 5,656 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Bannockburn IL | 1,308 | $214K | 5.1% | 1.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Prestbury IL | 2,045 | $165K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 505 | Norwegian Township PA | 2,403 | $85K | 2.5% | 1.3% | 4% | A |
| 506 | Fairfax OH | 1,764 | $75K | 4.1% | 3.3% | 7% | A |
| 507 | Forest Lake IL | 1,865 | $96K | 4.0% | 4.7% | <1% | A |
| 508 | Towanda Township IL | 1,998 | $119K | 2.9% | 3.7% | 1% | A |
| 509 | Chuluota FL | 2,187 | $98K | 9.3% | 1.5% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,656 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Forest Lake, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Forest Lake and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Forest Lake workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Lake | – | A | C | 33 min | $96,250 |
| Hawthorn Woods | under 3% | A | A− | 40 min | $219,631 |
| Kildeer | under 3% | A | B− | 30 min | $250,000+ |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Forest Lake’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Forest Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Forest Lake?
$96,250 (±$13,206) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Forest Lake?
4.0%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Forest Lake?
33 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Forest Lake work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (17%, 32 mi), Schaumburg (4%, 13 mi), Lincolnshire (3%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Forest Lake walkable?
Forest Lake is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Forest Lake without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Forest Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Forest Lake
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.