502,955 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.8% since 2020)
499 square miles of land · 1,008 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
30 active community water systems list Lake County in the area they serve, reporting 521,960 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| INDIANA AMERICAN WATER - NORTHWEST surface water · private · IN5245015 | 210,510 served |
| HAMMOND WATER WORKS DEPARTMENT surface water · local government · IN5245020 | 78,384 served |
| CROWN POINT WATER WORKS buys surface water · local government · IN5245008 | 30,000 served |
| SCHERERVILLE WATER DEPARTMENT buys surface water · local government · IN5245041 | 30,000 served |
| EAST CHICAGO WATER WORKS surface water · local government · IN5245012 | 26,370 served |
| ST. JOHN MUNICIPAL WATER UTILITY groundwater · local government · IN5245043 | 25,700 served |
| HIGHLAND WATER WORKS buys surface water · local government · IN5245021 | 23,984 served |
| MUNSTER WATER COMPANY buys surface water · local government · IN5245031 | 23,894 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 894 people were held in Lake County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 283 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 804.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
16 school districts have their office in Lake County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $203.9 million — $171.2 million to run schools, about $14,879 per student, plus $23.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $51.2 million local (mostly property tax), $112.2 million state, $43.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $190.7 million.
Spent $143.9 million — $119.3 million to run schools, about $12,836 per student, plus $20.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $55.3 million local (mostly property tax), $85.8 million state, $8.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $176.6 million.
Spent $136.4 million — $110.2 million to run schools, about $12,156 per student, plus $16.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $61.1 million local (mostly property tax), $81.8 million state, $8 million federal. Long-term debt: $285.9 million.
Spent $91.8 million — $64.4 million to run schools, about $10,733 per student, plus $18.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $36.5 million local (mostly property tax), $48.1 million state, $14.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $62.1 million.
Spent $68.8 million — $51.5 million to run schools, about $12,440 per student, plus $14.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $31.7 million local (mostly property tax), $35.9 million state, $3.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $69.8 million.
Spent $124.6 million — $113.1 million to run schools, about $27,740 per student, plus $9.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $28 million local (mostly property tax), $48.9 million state, $48.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $67.8 million.
Spent $62.9 million — $48.5 million to run schools, about $12,086 per student, plus $6.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $19.1 million local (mostly property tax), $37.3 million state, $5.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $91 million.
Spent $58.7 million — $56 million to run schools, about $16,716 per student, plus $1.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $12.9 million local (mostly property tax), $35.9 million state, $11.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $20.7 million.
And 8 more.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively High compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Lake County about $191 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
501 bridges in Lake County: 249 in good condition, 216 fair, and 36 poor (7.2%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| RIDGE ROAD over ELGIN JOLIET EASTERN RR. · built 1934 | 24,762 vehicles a day |
| KENNEDY AVENUE over LITTLE CALUMET RIVER · built 1955 | 24,318 vehicles a day |
| US 6 over MUCK POCKET · built 1941 | 22,439 vehicles a day |
| US 6 over DEEP RIVER · built 1941 | 22,439 vehicles a day |
| I-65 SB over BROWN DITCH · built 1964 | 22,124 vehicles a day |
| I-90 EB over 129TH STREET · built 1956 | 18,085 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $149.5 million of work in Lake County in fiscal 2025, about $300 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Indiana are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Lake County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Lake County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Indiana: the state government and every county in Indiana.
Nearby counties: Porter County (16 mi) · Will County, IL (31 mi) · Cook County, IL (32 mi) · LaPorte County (33 mi) · Jasper County (34 mi) · Kankakee County, IL (34 mi).