AreaProfile

92610Lake Forest, California

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 92610.

59
Area Score
Bottom 45% of 5,298 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 25% of 6,210 published ZIP areas67
Growth4800th of 5,428 published ZIP areas26
Housing affordability3740th of 6,685 published ZIP areas76
ClimateTop 4% of 6,789 published ZIP areas100
Physical resilience6135th of 6,709 published ZIP areas11
Access4152nd of 6,791 published ZIP areas90
Economic stabilityTop 1% of 6,742 published ZIP areas89
The quick read

Residential permitting has slowed: 38 units authorized over the past twelve months, 46% below the prior year.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by earthquake, inland flooding and wildfire.

Its Area Score of 59 places 92610 in the top 55% of published ZIP profiles.

At a glance

Population
12,867
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$195,046
Top 1% nationally
Density
3,184/sq mi
4.0 sq mi of land
Median age
43.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Lake Forest
California
Metro area
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
Nearest major airport
ONT
26 mi · Ontario Intl
Median home value
$1,020,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.9% is lower than 71% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 1.8% over the past year, to 44,484 employed residents.

68% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 96% of measured US ZIP areas.

Household income is higher than at least 99% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$19,547$195,046Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$7,391$76,748Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate3.5%Bottom 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute30.1 minTop 37%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher68.0%Top 4%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment44,484Bottom 44%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-0.1%Bottom 48%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.8%Bottom 23%June 2026
Labor force46,296Bottom 44%June 2026
Labor force participation75.9%Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$77,270Top 21%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$55,850Top 28%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.4%Bottom 25%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.9%Bottom 29%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024195k155k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $195,046 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides385,530$34,320
Fast Food and Counter Workers160,270$42,110
Retail Salespersons130,650$37,700
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand120,720$42,390
Office Clerks, General112,270$48,100
Cashiers109,940$36,980

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Lake Forest, CA, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $2,843 takes 17% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 5.2 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
17.5%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.2×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$2,843
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$1,020,500
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income5.23Top 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate82.6%Top 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±5684,932Top 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$665$2,843Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$70,747$1,020,500Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income17.5%Bottom 49%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate4.0%Bottom 17%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
26/ 100
Ranks 4800 of 5,428 published city profiles

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 0.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
38
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.4
Bottom 15% nationally
Year over year
−46%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Lake Forest, CA, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

12 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 79°F and January a low of 49°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 11.2 inches.

40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SANTA ANA JOHN WAYNE AP, 12.2 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND2.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation11.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low49°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high79°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months121991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing16°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

11 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, inland flooding and wildfire.

EarthquakeHigh
WildfireModerate
Inland floodingElevated
AvalancheModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, heat wave, coastal flooding, tornado, hail, lightning, tsunami, strong wind, drought, winter weather.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. Reported crime is also easy to misread: agency participation varies year to year, and a city that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

8 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 26 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Ontario IntlONT26 mi12,197 ft
Long Beach (Daugherty Fld)LGB30 mi10,000 ft
San Bernardino IntlSBD37 mi10,000 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
59
Your Score

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

92610 vs Lake Forest

How this ZIP area compares with Lake Forest as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

92610
Lake Forest
Median household income
$195,046
vs
$135,175
Per capita income
$76,748
vs
$60,633
Population density
3,184/sq mi
vs
5,162/sq mi
Median home value
$1,020,500
vs
$937,000
Median gross rent
$2,843
vs
$2,672
Homeownership rate
82.6%
vs
70.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher
68.0%
vs
50.8%
Poverty rate
3.5%
vs
8.5%
Median age
43.2
vs
40.2

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.