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An editorial illustration of Lake Forest Park, Washington
King County · Washington

Lake Forest Park, WA

Job growth outpaced population growth by 31 points in Lake Forest Park.

Population
13,700
1% more from 2021 to 2026
Family households
66.5%
±5 points at 90% confidence
Local jobs
1,878
32% more from 2018 to 2023
Median income
$159,904
±$12,682 at 90% confidence
City overview

The forces shaping Lake Forest Park now.

01
The trajectory

Job growth outpaced population growth by 31 points in Lake Forest Park.

Lake Forest Park’s population rose 1% from 2021–2026; its workplace job count rose 32% from 2018–2023. The source periods differ because the two series are released on different schedules.

Lake Forest Park’s faster-growing workplace base gives local businesses more daytime customers. It also makes inbound travel—including the resident connection to Seattle and nearby housing part of the city’s labor strategy.

Population: 2021–2026 · jobs: 2018–2023
02
The city’s regional role

Most of Lake Forest Park’s working life connects to jobs beyond its borders.

Lake Forest Park has 0.14 workplace jobs per resident—1,878 jobs for 13,700 people. Seattle is the largest observed outside destination for resident workers.

Lake Forest Park can be affluent without being job-rich. With only 0.14 workplace jobs per resident, household fortunes are unusually exposed to outside employers and the routes used to reach them.

Jobs and workplace flows: 2023 · population: 2026
03
The local economic engine

Professional Services leads in Lake Forest Park, but 83% of jobs are elsewhere in the economy.

Lake Forest Park contains 1,878 workplace jobs. Professional Services accounts for 17% of them. Retail is next at 16%.

Demand for office and flexible workspace—and Lake Forest Park’s ability to recruit specialized workers—will shape how durable that employment base is.

Workplace jobs: 2023
04
A split geography of work

32% work from home, while Seattle is Lake Forest Park’s largest outside job destination.

32% of workers report usually working from home. In the separate workplace-flow data, 49% of observed resident jobs are in Seattle and 7% are in Bellevue.

Remote-work policy and the trip to Seattle can therefore change demand for local cafés, office space, roads, and transit even when Lake Forest Park itself adds no new employer.

Work from home: 2024 · job destinations: 2023
People

Who lives here—and which households shape demand?

The typical household estimate is 2.5 people. 66% are estimated to be family households, while 24% are estimated to be people living alone.

Average household size
2.5

±0.1 people at 90% confidence

Median age
42.1

±2.3 years at 90% confidence

Living alone
24%

±5 points at 90% confidence

Bachelor’s degree+
66%

Among residents age 25 and older. ±6 points at 90% confidence

Population composition

Who lives here

Estimated share of all Lake Forest Park residents. Each percentage uses the city’s total population as its denominator.

White, non-Hispanic68% ±4 pts
Two or more races, non-Hispanic7.7% ±2 pts
Hispanic / Latino, any race5.9% ±2 pts
Chinese, except Taiwanese5.2% ±1 pts
Black, non-Hispanic5.2% ±3 pts
Filipino1.5% ±2 pts
Japanese1.3% ±0.7 pts
Korean1.0% ±0.8 pts
Asian Indian0.9% ±0.6 pts
Vietnamese0.8% ±0.6 pts
Another race, non-Hispanic0.7% ±0.6 pts
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic0.6% ±0.9 pts
Two or more Asian groups0.5% ±0.5 pts
American Indian / Alaska Native, non-Hispanic0.3% ±0.4 pts
Taiwanese0.1% ±0.2 pts
Laotian0.1% ±0.2 pts
Thai<0.1% ±0.1 pts

0% published estimate: Hmong, Mongolian, Okinawan, Other East Asian, Burmese, Cambodian, Indonesian, Malaysian, Mien, Singaporean, Other Southeast Asian, Bangladeshi, Bhutanese, Nepalese, Pakistani, Sikh, Sri Lankan, Other South Asian, Afghan, Kazakh, Uzbek, Other Central Asian, Other Asian, specified, Other Asian, not specified. Zero is not proof that no residents identify with that group.

Some ranges are wide, which is common for smaller populations. Treat small differences as uncertain rather than as a precise ordering.

ACS 2020–2024 · 5-year estimates
Dataset
U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates · tables B03002 and B02015
Period
2020–2024
Geography
Lake Forest Park Census place
Definition
Race and Hispanic/Latino origin are self-reported Census concepts. Hispanic/Latino may be of any race; the broad display uses non-Hispanic race categories plus Hispanic/Latino of any race.
Method
Every percentage is shown with its 90% margin of error. Detailed Asian estimates use the Asian-alone universe and are divided by the city population for display.
Open the official source ↗
Work

What powers the local economy—and how dependent is it?

Professional Services (partial technology proxy) accounts for 17% of jobs located in Lake Forest Park. The city’s job base changed +25% between 2010 and 2023.

Jobs by sector

Workplace jobs inside the city—not the industries of residents who commute elsewhere.

Professional Services (partial technology proxy)17%
Retail16%
Hospitality13%
Construction / Real Estate13%
Healthcare & Social Assistance12%

Historical employer snapshot

Official city employment structure and Town Center finding; no ranked employer table · Historical employer snapshot · 2024 comprehensive plan; 2019 Town Center analysis. The source is older than the current employer publication window; headcounts are historical, not current.

The current city plan emphasizes small businesses, home occupations, and Town Center growth, but does not publish a verified ranked employer list or local company headcounts.

City of Lake Forest Park Comprehensive Plan and Town Center environmental analysis ↗. Headcounts change faster than Census employment totals.

Housing

What kinds of homes exist—and where is pressure showing?

81% of occupied homes are estimated to be owner-occupied and 19% rented. The firmer current signal is construction intent: 6 homes were authorized in 2025, versus a recent pace of about 10 per year.

Home value profile

What owner-occupied homes are worth

Owner estimates from the 2020–2024 American Community Survey—not listings, recorded sales, or appraisals. The final Census band is open-ended: $2 million and above.

Median estimate$953k±29085.0 at 90% confidence
Middle half of homes$779k–$1.2MLower to upper quartile of owner estimates
Luxury-home concentration5%≈204 homes · estimated at $2M+
Under $500k7%
$500–749k14%
$750–999k36%
$1–1.49M32%
$1.5–1.99M7%
$2M+5%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-year tables B25075–B25078. Values cover owner-occupied homes only and do not measure current asking prices or recent purchase prices.

The housing mix we can estimate confidently

This describes the existing stock. It does not imply that one building type is preferable.

Detached houses79%
Attached houses4%
5+ unit buildings13%
Owner-occupied
81%

±6 points at 90% confidence

Owner cost-burdened
26%

Spending 30% or more on selected owner costs. ±6 points at 90% confidence

Homes authorized, 2025
6

Permit authorizations—not construction starts or completed homes.

Residential buildings, 2025
6

One building can contain one home or many housing units.

Permit activity: U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, final annual estimate for 2025. Housing units authorized are not starts or completions.

Mobility

Where do residents need to go—and who has a real alternative to driving?

Current transit schedules include 26 stops and 1,318 weekday stop departures inside Lake Forest Park. The 2020–2024 ACS separately estimates how workers usually commuted; it does not count every transit trip or describe today's schedule.

Weekday departures
1,318

Scheduled stop departures in the current covered-feed snapshot—not riders.

Transit stops
26

Matched inside city limits; nearby cross-border stops are separate.

Top outside workplace
Seattle

49% of observed resident job destinations in 2023 LODES.

Usually drive alone
52%

Workers age 16+; ACS 2020–2024 estimate. ±5 points at 90% confidence

Where resident workers go

Top observed workplace destinations.

Seattle49%
Peak drive: 20–40 min
Bellevue7%
Peak drive: 20–50 min
Redmond6%
Peak drive: 20–50 min
Shoreline5%
Peak drive: 5–20 min
Everett5%

The strongest outside connection is Seattle. Employer or corridor changes there can alter everyday life in Lake Forest Park, even when nothing changes inside the city boundary.

How residents usually get to work

Citywide ACS 2020–2024 estimates describe workers’ usual commute—not every trip made today.

Drive alone
52%

Share of workers usually driving alone. ±5 points at 90% confidence

Work from home
32%

Share of workers usually working from home. ±5 points at 90% confidence

Use public transit
3.9%

Usual commute mode—not all transit trips. ±1 points at 90% confidence

Commute 45+ minutes
16%

Share of workers with a one-way commute of at least 45 minutes. ±5 points at 90% confidence

For someone choosing a home in Lake Forest Park, the practical test is the trip to Seattle, the leading outside workplace destination in the published flows. These citywide shares cannot show whether that trip works from a particular address.

Typical drive times

About how long does it take to get where people go?

Work destinations are selected from observed resident job flows. These are broad, reviewed planning ranges from representative parts of Lake Forest Park—not live-traffic or door-to-door predictions.

Starting area
Downtown Seattle employment core

Seattle is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for Lake Forest Park, representing 45% of matched resident jobs from this city.

20–40 minWeekday morning peak
Details

Highway-dominant corridor: distance converted with a reviewed 1.25x circuity factor and an assumed 45 km/h peak-effective / 70 km/h off-peak effective speed, then widened and rounded to a broad band. The morning inbound peak is shown; the evening outbound return is assumed to fall within the same broad band.

Downtown Bellevue employment core

Bellevue is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for Lake Forest Park, representing 6% of matched resident jobs from this city.

20–40 minWeekday morning peak
Details

Highway-dominant corridor: distance converted with a reviewed 1.25x circuity factor and an assumed 45 km/h peak-effective / 70 km/h off-peak effective speed, then widened and rounded to a broad band. The morning inbound peak is shown; the evening outbound return is assumed to fall within the same broad band.

Overlake employment core

Redmond is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for Lake Forest Park, representing 5% of matched resident jobs from this city.

20–40 minWeekday morning peak
Details

Highway-dominant corridor: distance converted with a reviewed 1.25x circuity factor and an assumed 45 km/h peak-effective / 70 km/h off-peak effective speed, then widened and rounded to a broad band. The morning inbound peak is shown; the evening outbound return is assumed to fall within the same broad band.

Shoreline employment area

Shoreline is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for Lake Forest Park, representing 5% of matched resident jobs from this city.

5–20 minWeekday morning peak
Details

Local arterial-dominant corridor: distance converted with a reviewed 1.40x circuity factor and an assumed 28 km/h peak-effective / 42 km/h off-peak effective speed, then widened and rounded to a broad band. The morning inbound peak is shown; the evening outbound return is assumed to fall within the same broad band.

Method, review date, and sources

Planning estimate; actual time varies by departure time, route, traffic, weather, incidents, and closures.

Estimates are derived from reviewed origin/destination coordinates using a documented distance-to-time heuristic (circuity factor and assumed effective speed by corridor type and period), then deliberately widened and rounded to a broad band. No live routing or traffic API was called.

Estimates reviewed 2026-09-10. Starting point: selected representative area.

City boundary and regional context● nearby   ● work destinations
Daily life

Community institutions and local activity

Public schools, libraries, pharmacies, and listed everyday places show part of the local inventory inside Lake Forest Park; taxable sales show the scale and direction of local commercial activity. Residents also use places across city lines, so a boundary count is not the same as access.

Local field guide

Places for everyday needs in Lake Forest Park

Care, errands, food, fitness, and personal services gathered into one browsable directory.

Hospitals0 in cityFind nearby
Explore all hospitals near Lake Forest ParkOpen
Pharmacies1 listedView all
Rite Aid Pharmacy 0522517171 BOTHELL WAY NORTHEAST · LAKE FOREST PARK TOWNE CENTER · LAKE FOREST PARK, WA 98155-5534MapExplore all pharmacies in MapsOpen
Coffee5 listedView all
Coffee SensationsMapSheridan Market and RoadhouseMapSkog Haus Coffee & TeaMapStarbucksMapWired Chick's EspressoMapExplore all coffee in MapsOpen
Fitness3 listedView all
CurvesMapPlanet FitnessMapWIN Sports LabMapExplore all fitness in MapsOpen
Groceries2 listedView all
AlbertsonsMapSafewayMapExplore all groceries in MapsOpen
Convenience1 listedView all
ampmMapExplore all convenience in MapsOpen
Restaurants20 listedView 8 places
The Big Time PizzaMapBrileys BBQ & GrillMapBurney Brothers BBQMapCoco's BakeryMapDumpling GenerationMapDumpling Generation 面食代 LFPMapThe Everest KitchenMapFirenze Ristorante ItalianoMapExplore all restaurants in MapsOpen
Salons and barbers1 listedView all
Yas Royalty LashMapExplore all salons and barbers in MapsOpen

Counts reflect current directory records associated with the city, not a complete business census or a measure of access. Large categories show a sample.

Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), snapshot 2026-08-13; Overture Maps Foundation, release 2026-08-19.0; U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (NPPES NPI Registry), snapshot 2026-09-09.

Public library footprint

Lake Forest Park Library

Floor area shows the scale of the physical branches. Physical circulation is 2024 checkouts—not visits, unique users, or digital borrowing—and people routinely use libraries across city lines.

Branch floor area
5,840 sq ft

All matched branches must report floor area before a city total is shown.

Physical checkouts
97,595

Annual branch activity; not limited to city residents. All matched branches must report before a city total is shown.

Lake Forest Park LibraryKing County Library System
5,840 sq ft97,595 physical checkouts47 scheduled hours/week

Source: Washington State Library public-library statistics, 2024. System-wide visits, digital circulation, and program attendance cannot be assigned honestly to one branch, so they are not folded into these city totals.

Education footprint

The schools inside Lake Forest Park.

Institution counts and enrollment will remain separate. A school can serve students from outside the city, and residents may attend a school across the boundary or elsewhere in their district.

Public elementary2
  • Brookside Elementary SchoolShoreline School District
  • Lake Forest Park Elementary SchoolShoreline School District
Public middle0

None in the current OSPI city-boundary match.

Public high0

None in the current OSPI city-boundary match.

Other public programs0

None in the current OSPI city-boundary match.

Public-school names and levels come from OSPI. Private schools, complete IPEDS college coverage, enrollment by level, and graduate destinations are active additions; absence here should not yet be read as “none.”

Retail role

Lake Forest Park records relatively little retail activity for its population.

Retail sales per resident fall below 81% of the cities tracked by Metroscope. That may mean residents rely more on nearby cities for shopping, but sales records alone cannot prove where they shop.

Retail sales per resident, 2024
$6,282

Higher than 19% of 82 tracked cities.

Change from 2023
+3%

Nominal retail-sales change; inflation can account for some or all of an increase.

See the underlying sales totals
Retail trade, 2024
$86.1M

Sales reported by businesses classified in retail trade.

All taxable sales
$208.4M

Includes taxable activity outside retail trade.

Retail share
41%

Retailing industries’ share of all taxable sales.

Tracked-city median
$10,670

Median retail sales per resident across cities with comparable data.

Civic life

In Lake Forest Park, voters directly choose who runs City Hall.

Lake Forest Park voters elect the mayor separately from the council. The mayor leads city administration, while the council adopts laws, policy, and the budget—so executive accountability sits directly with an elected office.

Government form
Mayor–Council

The mayor is separately elected to lead administration.

Mayor listed
Thomas French

The separately elected chief executive.

Council representatives listed
7

Current directory entries; vacancies or updates can make this differ from authorized seats.

Incorporated
1961

Code city under Washington law.

Where decisions happen

When does the Lake Forest Park council meet?

Regular meeting schedule listed in the current municipal directory:

2nd & 4th Thu - 7:00pm

Schedules change and special meetings are separate. Check the city site for the live agenda, staff reports, public-comment rules, and video.

Official city site ↗Current officials directory ↗
Election record

Where to check Lake Forest Park election results.

Regular municipal offices generally return in 2027. Special measures can appear earlier, and charter provisions can differ.

The next data step is city-specific turnout, contested-seat share, ballot measures, and campaign money. Until those are normalized, Metroscope links the official record instead of guessing from partisan elections.

Structure, meetings, and current officials: Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington (MRSC), checked 2026-09-08. Election administration and certified results: the county election offices listed above. Confirm live agendas and officeholders at the source.

Change

What is changing the city’s trajectory?

Population and jobs do not always move together. Reading both helps distinguish a growing employment center from a city whose households are increasingly tied to opportunities elsewhere.

Residents
13,700

1% more from 2021 to 2026

Local jobs
1,878

32% more from 2018 to 2023

Retail trade, 2023–2024
+3%

Nominal taxable-sales change; not adjusted for inflation.

Data & details — selected comparable metrics across 82 places
Local jobs
LODES
1,878
1,506656,821
Higher than only 3% of places
Long-run job change
LODES
+25%
−3%+166%
Higher than only 29% of places
Weekday transit departures
GTFS snapshot
1,318
19256,385
Higher than only 31% of places
Multifamily permitting
Census BPS
Near a 15-year low
Recent annual pace compared with this city's own 2010–2025 record
2BR Fair Market Rent
HUD, county-level
$2,549
FY2027 HUD program benchmark; chart shows FY2020–FY2027 history. Shared across this HUD metro area—not a place-specific market rent.
Work — sector breakdown
Share of local jobs by sector · LODES · workplace location, not resident industry
Professional Services (partial technology proxy)17% (319)
Retail16% (301)
Hospitality13% (253)
Construction / Real Estate13% (237)
Healthcare & Social Assistance12% (228)
Other7% (140)
Administrative & Support Services6% (106)
Information (partial technology proxy)5% (85)
Government (Public Administration)4% (70)
Finance3% (54)
Education (includes academia/research)2% (35)
Logistics / Industrial2% (33)
Manufacturing (includes, but is not limited to, aerospace)1% (17)
Where Lake Forest Park's workforce lives (inbound)
LODES OD — commuting flows into local jobs
Seattle
34.4%
Shoreline
8.6%
Lake Forest Park
8.3%
Everett
4.8%
Mountlake Terrace
3.6%