2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Lake Forest, IL vs Champaign, IL

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Champaign or is it cheaper to live in Lake Forest?
- Champaign is 16.4% less expensive than Lake Forest.

Which city has more affordable housing, Champaign or Lake Forest?
- Champaign housing costs are 80.8% less expensive than Lake Forest housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Lake Forest or is Health Care more affordable in Champaign.
- Health related expenses are 15.7% more in Champaign.
 Lake Forest, ILChampaign, ILUnited States
 Overall  Unlock81.1100
 Food & Groceries108.2  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock111.4100
 Housing285.4  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$190,400$338,100
 Utilities94  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock69.4100
 Miscellaneous141.0  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Lake Forest    4 Reviews

We relocated cross county to Lake Forest about a year ago due to a job change. We looked at nearby communities, within proximity of the work commute (the office is in  More

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Be prepared for a so called upscale town with entitled, overpaid, snooty people from teenagers who sneer at you to adults who look you up and down, who make demands on a  More

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Over 15 years ago

Long cold winters, short cold springs, hot humid summers, nice  More

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Reviews for Champaign    13 Reviews

Over 6 years ago

Pros - close to Chicago, has Parkland community college and lots of places to eat. There is a train station downtown that is really good. Beautiful deciduous trees and  More

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Over 8 years ago

I wonderful city with great  More

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Actually it's barely a nice place to live. The pros: Not terribly expensive - at one point the least expensive place to live in the country among modest sized  More

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