2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Fresno, CA vs Lake Forest, CA

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Lake Forest or is it cheaper to live in Fresno?
- Lake Forest is 59.0% more expensive than Fresno.

Which city has more affordable housing, Lake Forest or Fresno?
- Lake Forest housing costs are 176.5% more expensive than Fresno housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Fresno or is Health Care more affordable in Lake Forest.
- Health related expenses are 0.3% more in Lake Forest.
 Fresno, CALake Forest, CAUnited States
 Overall  Unlock164.9100
 Food & Groceries99.2  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock93.4100
 Housing108.5  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$937,500$338,100
 Utilities112  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock111.6100
 Miscellaneous110.2  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Fresno    77 Reviews

I'm not gonna say this city is terrible, but it certainly has many issues that need to be taken care of and unfortunately the city council has done a poor job keeping up  More

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I've lived in Fresno my entire life and when I became an adult, I began to realize how much being a resident here really sucks, it might be cheaper than most other  More

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Lived here since 2002. I may be flamed for this, but.. total dump and I would rate 0 stars if I could. You only really move here to move out. As good as a gas stop.  More

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Reviews for Lake Forest    16 Reviews

I've lived in Lake Forest for over a decade, before that elsewhere in OC and also up in LA. Lake Forest isn't perfect but it's really improved over the past decade,  More

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As a retired senior who has lived in Lake Forest (formerly El Toro) since 1977 I think LF is a great place if you can afford it. When we moved here in June '77 homes  More

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I’ve lived here for 2 years. Ok, it’s more like a 4 but there are so many idiots downplaying what it’s like here and giving Lake Forest ones and twos. There are a lot of  More

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