Is Gages Lake a good place to live?
Gages Lake’s standout strength is health — CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 87% of the country. It also does well on walkability — it is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns. What counts against it is cost of living — the typical home is worth about $338K, 3.7 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. All told, that adds up to a B+ overall, better than 72% of U.S. towns. That places it 310th of 767 in Illinois. Its trail density is 1.0 miles per square mile, against 0.3 in Illinois’ towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. On history, just 127 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns do worse. Only 36 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns score higher on hazard risk.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenStreetMap · National Register of Historic Places.
How Gages Lake grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Gages Lake is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
What makes Gages Lake stand out
Where Gages Lake beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Gages Lake | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10.7% | 15.9% |
98% of working residents leave Gages Lake for work
Where Gages Lake’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Gages Lake.
Gages Lake carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Illinois (mostly inland flooding) and sends most of its workers to Chicago and beyond.
Conservation land takes up 8.6% of Gages Lake
The biggest place to walk is Warren Special Recreation, 68 acres with 1.7 miles of trail. Trails total 3.3 miles in 8 parks and preserves. In Gages Lake, the trail density is 1.0 miles per square mile.
| Gages Lake | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.0 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 8.6% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Warren Special Recreation | 1.7 mi | 68 |
| 2. Twin Lakes Park | 0.2 mi | 10 |
| 3. Rule Park | 0.2 mi | 7 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Gages Lake earns an A for health
30% of Gages Lake adults feel lonely. In Gages Lake, 18% of adults get no exercise outside work.
| Gages Lake | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 23% | 25% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 33% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 17% | 17% |
| What stands out | Gages Lake | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10.7% | 15.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 6.9% | 9.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Natural hazards: very low risk in Gages Lake, mostly inland flooding
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 95% of Illinois towns, with expected losses of about $296 per resident a year; that rating is what its A for hazard risk is built on.
For Gages Lake, the natural-hazard score from FEMA is 15 of 100. FEMA puts 45% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 23% to tornadoes. The national flood insurance program has paid 4 claims here since 1982.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Gages Lake sends most of its workers out of town
Gages Lake has 1,329 jobs for its 5,048 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. Jobs based here fell from 2,432 in 2013 to 1,329.
The typical household income in Gages Lake is $103,000. Just 2% of the town’s working residents have a job in town. Jobs here fell by 1,103 from 2013 to 2023, to 1,329. For workers locally, the share who do their job from home is 22%.
| Gages Lake | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 22% | 11% | 11% |
| Median household income | $103,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.2% | 8.4% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 7% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Snowy winters and pleasant summers in Gages Lake
Gages Lake’s peak summer temperature is 83°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Gages Lake earns a C− for cost of living
A typical home in Gages Lake is worth about $338,000, up 6.6% in a year, 14% above the Illinois typical home. In Gages Lake, the median rent is $1,693 a month. Among households here, 83% own their home.
| Gages Lake | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,693 a month | $1,128 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 83% | 75% | 73% |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
No age group stands out in Gages Lake against Illinois
The share of adults 25 and older in Gages Lake who hold a bachelor’s degree or more: 43%. Every broad age group is within 4 points of the Illinois average. For Gages Lake, the median age is 39.8 years.
| Gages Lake | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 43% | 29% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 15% | 19% | 18% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.6 points. Across Illinois, 50.6% of residents are women.
| Gages Lake | IL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.3% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.8% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.6% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.5% | 13.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.7% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.9% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 16.6% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4.6% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4% | 9.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 21% | 25.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.8% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.7% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 26.3% | 22.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.2% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Everything we know about Gages Lake
Six Flags Great America and 124 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Gages Lake. Close and well known come first.
3 mi Theme parkSix Flags Great America3.0M visitors a year
Big draw39 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw33 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw36 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
Big draw37 mi MuseumArt Institute of Chicago1.5M visitors a year
24 mi Stadium & arenaAllstate ArenaPhoto credits
Six Flags Great America: Feather Better, CC BY 4.0 · Soldier Field: Photo by Joon Han Contact: [email protected], CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wrigley Field: Ryan Dickey, CC BY 2.0 · United Center: User:JeremyA, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Art Institute of Chicago: ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0 · Allstate Arena: Nkon21, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Moving to Gages Lake: who provides what
Gages Lake is unincorporated, so Lake County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
Colleges nearby
5 within 15 miles of the center of Gages Lake
About 7 of every 100 Gages Lake residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
About Gages Lake
Census-designated place in Illinois, United States
Gages Lake is a census-designated place (CDP) in Warren Township, Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,637 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 3.2 sq mi
- Elevation
- 771 ft
- Area code
- 847
Gages Lake’s neighbors
5 towns share a border with Gages Lake.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gages Lake | #310 | B+ | C− | — | B | A |
| Gurnee | #450 | B− | C− | C | B− | A |
| Third Lake | — | — | B− | — | B+ | A |
| Grayslake | #52 | A+ | C+ | A− | B+ | A |
| Warren Township | #362 | B+ | C− | — | B− | A |
| Avon Township | #401 | B | C | — | B− | A− |
Third Lake has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Gages Lake, Third Lake, Warren Township and Avon Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Gages Lake with a neighbor →
Questions about Gages Lake
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Gages Lake, IL a good place to live?
For most people who can afford it, yes. Gages Lake grades B+ overall, better than 72% of U.S. towns and #310 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A for health and B for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Gages Lake, IL expensive?
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
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