Lake County is a county located in the northeastern corner of the U.S. state of Illinois, along the shores of Lake Michigan. As of the 2020 census, it has a population of 714,342, making it the third-most populous county in Illinois. Its county seat is Waukegan, the tenth-largest city in Illinois. The county is a mixture of suburban areas, urban areas, and some rural areas. Due to its location, immediately north of Cook County, Lake County is one of the collar counties of the Chicago metropolitan area. Its northern boundary is the Wisconsin state line.
According to the 2010 census, Lake County is the second wealthiest county in the state by per capita income, after DuPage County. Additionally, Lake County ranks as the 27th wealthiest county in the nation. The county includes the affluent North Shore communities of Lake Forest, Lake Bluff, and Highland Park, and much of the county's wealth is concentrated in this area, as well as in communities bordering Cook County to the south and McHenry County to the west. The north and northwest areas of the county, though historically rural and exurban, have experienced rapid suburbanization in the past three decades, while the lakefront communities of Waukegan, North Chicago, and Zion are postindustrial areas that have majority-minority populations. The Hispanic population has seen significant increases in nearly all areas of the county and comprise 24% of the county's population in 2020.
The expansive Naval Station Great Lakes is located in the city of North Chicago. It is the United States Navy's Headquarters Command for training, and the Navy's only recruit training center. One Wetland of International Importance is primarily located in the county, Chiwaukee Prairie Illinois Beach Lake Plain, which encompasses Illinois Beach State Park and some of the lakeside lands of the Lake County Forest Preserve District.
History
The county was created by the Illinois State Legislature in 1839. At that time, the county was mostly unsettled; Libertyville, then known as Independence Grove, was the first county seat. In 1841, however, the county's residents voted to move the county government to Little Fort, now Waukegan, where the commissioners had purchased a section of land from the state. Lake County's first courthouse was built on part of that land in 1844 and the remainder was sold to pay for the $4,000 construction cost.
The county's first courthouse was used solely for court sessions and the jail, but in 1853, commissioners constructed a building to accommodate county administration offices and house records. When fire damaged the courthouse on October 19, 1875, the county records were saved because they were in the adjacent building.
After the fire, proposals were made to move the county seat to Highland Park, Libertyville or another site in central Lake County. The county commissioners, however, decided to rebuild in Waukegan. The east half of the building was reconstructed at a cost of $45,000. In 1895, the first jail building was added to the government complex and a west addition was added to the courthouse in 1922. By 1938, county commissioners saw a need for additional space and approved the addition of a 5th Floor. This courthouse, however, was demolished in 1967 to make room for a new high-rise administration building, which was completed with the addition of the jail in 1969 and courts in 1970.
Shortly thereafter, the Lake County Board commissioned the construction of a multi-faceted justice facility and ground was broken in 1986 for the Robert H. Babcox Justice Center, named in memory of Sheriff Babcox, who served as Lake County Sheriff from 1982 to 1988. The justice center, which houses the county jail, work release program, sheriff's administration offices and three courtrooms, was finished in 1989 at a cost of $29.6 million.
Additional county government facilities have been built or expanded throughout Lake County, including the Coroner's Office, Health Department/Community Health Center facilities, Division of Transportation, Public Works and Winchester House. Lake County government services extend throughout the county's .
The historic Half Day Inn, a tavern/restaurant, was constructed in 1843. This structure, once located at the corner of Milwaukee Avenue and Rte. 45/Old Half Day Road, was one of the oldest structures in Lake County until it was demolished in 2007 to make way for retail space, condominiums, and a retention pond.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (67.6%) is water. It is the second-largest county in Illinois by total area and the only one that has more water area than land area. Most of the water is in Lake Michigan.
State parks Illinois Beach State Park North Point Marina Volo Bog State Natural Area Chain O'Lakes State Park
Lakes Besides Lake Michigan, lakes in the county include:
Bangs Lake Channel Lake Countryside Lake Diamond Lake Druce Lake East Loon Lake Fox Lake Gages Lake Grays Lake Highland Lake Island Lake Loon Lake Wooster Lake
Natural areas Lake County's forest preserves and natural areas are administered by the Lake County Forest Preserves district. These facilities include traditional nature preserves, such as the Ryerson Conservation Area, as well as golf courses and historic homes, such as the Adlai Stevenson historic home. A long north–south string of the preserves in Lake County, including Half Day Woods, Old School Forest Preserve, Independence Grove, and Van Patten Woods, form the Des Plaines River Greenway, which contains the Des Plaines River Trail, a popular place for walking, running, and biking. Lake County is also home to Illinois Beach State Park, featuring over six miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, as well as dune areas, wetlands, prairie, and black oak savanna. Several local environmental groups operate in Lake County, such as Conserve Lake County and Citizens for Conservation, working to improve habitat. Volunteer opportunities also exist with the Lake County Forest Preserve District.
Adjacent counties Kenosha County, Wisconsinnorth Cook Countysouth McHenry Countywest Van Buren County, Michiganeast
Transit Metra Milwaukee District North Line North Central Service Union Pacific North Line Union Pacific Northwest Line Pace
Major highways
County routes and county highways Lake County's county road system currently covers 300 miles of road. The county also employs two different numbering systems, a county route system and a county highway system. While both systems' can be seen on official road maps, only the County Route designations have been indicated with highway markers on traffic signals or dedicated poles.
The county route system in use today by Lake County was purportedly intended to be the dominant system for all of Illinois's counties and was proposed by the National Association of Counties (NACo), however their system was not chosen and instead each county was given the freedom to number their own county routes as well as choose whether or not to produce and display highway markers. Currently, only Lake County, Boone County, McHenry County and Cook County use NACo's proposed numbering system, and of the four only Lake and McHenry counties chose to fully display the county route designations on highway markers. Cook County began to roll out the production of highway markers near the beginning of 2009, but the seemingly arbitrary numbering system as well as the cost to produce the markers resulted in a lot of confusion and backlash, and ultimately only some of the markers were produced and mounted.
For Lake County, all East–West-bound County Routes begin with an "A", while North—South-bound County Routes on the western half of the county begin with a "V", and those located on the eastern half begin with a "W".
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 714,342. The median age was 39.3 years. 23.8% of residents were under the age of 18, and 15.0% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 97.0 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 61.0% White, 6.9% Black or African American, 1.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 8.3% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 12.1% from some other race, and 10.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 24.1% of the population.
The 2020 census reported that 98.6% of residents lived in urban areas, while 1.4% lived in rural areas.
There were 253,386 households in the county, of which 35.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 56.0% were married-couple households, 15.0% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 23.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 22.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 269,378 housing units, of which 5.9% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 72.9% were owner-occupied, and 27.1% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.6%, and the rental vacancy rate was 6.6%.
Racial and ethnic composition
+Lake County, Illinois – Racial and Ethnic CompositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 20102020White alone (NH)383,370431,976472,968458,701408,34987.06%83.65%73.40%65.21%57.16%Black or African American alone (NH)27,84234,08043,58046,98947,2406.32%6.60%6.76%6.68%6.61%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)860 Compiliation of American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut categories1,2411,0481,0589090.20%0.24%0.16%0.15%0.13%Asian alone (NH)5,898 Compiliation of Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Asian Indian, and Vietnamese categories. Other Asian groups would be included in the Some Other Race category12,03824,86643,95458,9011.34%2.33%3.86%6.25%8.25%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)122 Compiliation of Hawaiian, Guamanian, and Samoan categories. Other Pacific Islander groups would be included in the Some Other Race category2252242283120.03%0.04%0.03%0.03%0.04%Other race alone (NH)1,216 Calculated as the difference between the total population and all other categories3481,0851,5473,2640.28%0.07%0.17%0.22%0.46%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)x Not an option in the 1980 Censusx Not an option in the 1990 Census7,86910,99823,405xx1.22%1.56%3.28%Hispanic or Latino (any race)21,064 Listed as Spanish origin in the 1980 Census. Racial identification for Hispanics only consisted of White, Black, and Some Other Race; hence, a small number of Latinos may be also be included in the counts for Asian, Native American, and Pacific Islander36,73592,716139,987171,9624.78%7.11%14.39%19.90%24.07%Total440,372516,418644,356703,462714,342100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%
Racial / Ethnic Profile of places in Lake County, Illinois (2020 census) Racial / Ethnic Profile of places in Lake County, Illinois (2020 Census)Following is a table of towns and census designated places in Lake County, Illinois. Data for the United States (with and without Puerto Rico), the state of Illinois, and Lake County itself have been included for comparison purposes. The majority racial/ethnic group is coded per the key below. Communities that extend into and adjacent county or counties are delineated with a followed by an accompanying explanatory note. The full population of each community has been tabulated including the population in adjacent counties. Majority minority with no dominant groupMajority WhiteMajority BlackMajority HispanicMajority Asian