Best PlacesLake Forest, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lake Forest, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Lake Forest ranks 596th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lake Forest
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Lake Forest's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lake Forest ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 327 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of cities
- BikingBetter than 91% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 85% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 83% of cities
Where Lake Forest ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 11% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 12% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,494 a month, better than only 16% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Lake Forest
A household needs to earn about $230,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lake Forest home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $130,599, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Lake Forest's effective rate of 0.60%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lake Forest
Lake Forest's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lake Forest.
Who works in Lake Forest, and how
Work in Lake Forest centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Lake Forest
Lake Forest has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of cities and more parkland per resident than 87% of cities. The coast is about 12 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lake Forest and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lake Forest, month by month
Lake Forest sees roughly 327 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 69, with lows near 48. Every month averages in that range.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 69° | 58° | 48° |
| April | 73° | 63° | 56° |
| July | 81° | 72° | 66° |
| October | 81° | 69° | 61° |
Flying in and out of Lake Forest
John Wayne/Orange County sits about 11 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.5 million passengers in 2025, with 80 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Lake Forest
Schools across Lake Forest average a B−, better than 55% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Oxford Preparatory Academy - Saddleback ValleyB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Newhart MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- University HighA+ · 85% proficient
- Northwood HighA · 79% proficient
- Trabuco Hills HighA · 74% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lake Forest school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lake Forest measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Lake Forest against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Lake Forest suits
Common questions about living in Lake Forest
Is Lake Forest a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lake Forest ranks 596th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on the weather, biking, and big-city access, and lowest on an overheated housing market and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lake Forest expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $906,526. The overall cost of living runs about 47% above the national average. Set against a $130,599 median income, cost of living beats 41% of cities.
Is Lake Forest safe?
Lake Forest is safer than 20% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $442 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lake Forest?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 69 with lows near 48. That works out to about 327 pleasant days a year, more than 99% of cities.
Is Lake Forest good for families?
Schools beat 55% of cities, crime safety beats 20%, and childcare runs $1,494 a month.
Compare Lake Forest with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lake Forest. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lake Forest represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Lake Forest detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lake Forest: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lake Forest: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lake Forest: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lake Forest: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lake Forest detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.