Census-designated place · Lake County, Florida

Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Florida

Lake Mack-Forest Hills is a census-designated place in Lake County, Florida, part of the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL metro area. It has 2,200 residents. Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Florida has a quality-of-life score of 37 out of 100 (low), ranking #9,920 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Florida it ranks #477 of 780 cities and towns. It ranks best on rent as share of income (low), home price to income ratio (low) and comfortable days (high). It ranks worst on unemployment rate (high), hot days (high) and uninsured residents (under 65) (high).

37Low

Quality-of-life score: #9,920 of 15,651 cities and towns
Florida: #477 of 780 in FL
Population: 2,200 (2020-2024)
Land area: 5 mi²
Density: 454.8 /mi²
FIPS code: 1238332

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety42#9,128/15,637
Economy29#11,121/15,631
Housing96#567/14,977
Health32#10,597/15,609
Healthcare28#11,270/15,650
Environment67#5,078/15,453
Education35#10,230/15,649
Infrastructure29#11,116/15,650
Community37#9,781/15,651
Leisure & amenities28#11,236/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Florida ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Lake County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Rent as share of income · low9.0%
100/100Florida 35.2%United States 30.6%2018-2022U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Home price to income ratio · low1.2×
92/100Florida 4.8×United States 4.1×2018-2022U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077High uncertainty
Comfortable days · high33.3%
91/100Florida 32.4%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationLake County value
Median Air Quality Index · low35
86/100Florida 422025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyLake County value
Mammography screening · high52.0%
81/100Florida 46.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLake County value
New business applications · high17.5 /1k
81/100Florida 27.6 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauLake County value

Weaknesses

Unemployment rate · high32.5%
0/100Florida 3.9%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025High uncertainty
Hot days · high113 days
6/100Florida 102 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationLake County value
Uninsured residents (under 65) · high48.3%
10/100Florida 13.7%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010High uncertainty
Bachelor's degree or higher · low9.9%
12/100Florida 34.2%United States 35.7%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003High uncertainty
Frequent mental distress · high20.9%
12/100Florida 18.7%United States 18.6%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Adult smoking · high19.9%
13/100Florida 14.8%United States 16.1%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
899 (2015-2019) → 2,200 (2020-2024)
+145%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
89.6% (2015-2019) → 3.8% (2020-2024)
−86 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$34,375 (2015-2019) → $103,363 (2018-2022)
+201%3 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $74,755
Rent as share of incomeImproving
38.8% (2015-2019) → 9.0% (2018-2022)
−30 pts3 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.0%
Child poverty rateImproving
23.4% (2015-2019) → 0.0% (2020-2024)
−23 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
72.3% (2015-2019) → 95.1% (2020-2024)
+23 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Florida improved on 1 of 3 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 2 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Broadband+23 points72.3% → 95.1%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 3 measures

Change of every measure of Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Florida between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Broadband subscriptions	72.3%2015-2019	95.1%2020-2024	+23 points	Improved	93%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.5052015-2019	0.4132020-2024	−0.092	Within the margin of error	94%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15075 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Florida five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Florida in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

No place that looked like Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Florida five years ago has more measures that improved than declined, with a higher standing among its peers today.

For comparison, Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Florida itself moved +51.5 points in standing on average over the same 2 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

2,200 residents (±1,408)

Men
Women

80 and over
70–79†
60–69†
50–59†
40–49†
30–39†
20–29†
10–19†
Under 10†

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: 40–49 women (+17.1 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

2,200 residents (±1,408)

Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Florida
Florida share

White97%†2,144
Black0.0%0
Hispanic or Latino2.5%†56

Education

1,490 residents (±971)

Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Florida
Florida share

No high school diploma34%†509
High school or GED38%†569
Some college7.7%

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

594 households (±352)

Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Florida
Florida share

Under $25k22%†130
$25k–50k12%†73
$50k–75k11%†67
$75k–100k1.5%†9
$100k–150k11%†67
$150k–200k0.0%0
$200k or more42%†248

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: $75k–100k (−21.1 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

594 households (±352)

Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Florida
Florida share

Own65%†385
Rent35%†209

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

209 households (±301)

Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Florida
Florida share

Under $75096%†201
$750–1,0000.0%0
$1,000–1,5003.8%†8

Home values

385 homes (±171)

Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Florida
Florida share

Under $150k55%†210
$150k–250k4.4%†17
$250k–400k39%†

Age of homes

638 homes (±352)

Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Florida
Florida share

2010 or later10%†65
2000–20094.9%†31
1980–199938%†245

Size of homes

638 homes (±352)

Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Florida
Florida share

Studio0.0%0
1 bedroom0.0%0
2 bedrooms22%†139

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

1,066 workers (±768)

Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Florida
Florida share

Drive alone24%†261
Carpool51%†543
Public transit0.0%0
Walk0.0%0
Bike0.0%0
Work from home25%†262
Other0.0%0

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Drive alone (−67.7 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

804 workers (±607)

Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Florida
Florida share

Under 15 min48%†389
15–29 min22%†174
30–44 min14%†112

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Lake County, the county holding most of Lake Mack-Forest Hills's residents.

Lake County has 8,849 employer establishments, 208 for every 10,000 residents (0.84× the US rate of 248; 0.74× Florida's), with 96,577 paid employees at an average annual pay of $44,837. The Census Bureau also counts 43,033 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 8,849; 43,033 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 208; US 248 · Florida 282
Paid employees: 96,577
Average annual pay: $44,837; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Lake County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	892	20.9	1.35×More than typical	7,944	$57,397	3,086
Ambulatory health care services	880	20.6	0.99×About typical	9,957	$58,314	2,089
Restaurants and other eating places	577	13.5	0.74×Fewer than typical	11,648	$21,806	225
Lessors of real estate	527	12.4	1.00×About typical	1,768	$43,948	4,270
Services to buildings and dwellings	474	11.1	1.65×More than typical	2,641	$42,928	3,336
Offices of physicians	330	7.7	1.20×About typical	3,489	$75,540	285
Construction of buildings	304	7.1	0.94×About typical	1,648	$52,298	1,343
Building equipment contractors	290	6.8	1.13×About typical	3,190	$59,878	459
Full-service restaurants	279	6.5	0.85×About typical	6,316	$24,292	94
Real estate agents and brokers	266	6.2	1.28×More than typical	475	$46,065	1,800
Building finishing contractors	260	6.1	1.60×More than typical	1,045	$44,122	985
Landscaping services	260	6.1	1.74×More than typical	1,444	$43,171	1,157

Rank places for an industry Open Lake County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 426,453 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $11K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Florida: $5.00 per resident (US $1,995).

Obligations: $11K; −87% vs FY2025
Per resident: $5.00; US $1,995
Sole-source: 100%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Forest Service$11K100%

Top recipients

NOVELESOLUTIONS, INC.$11K100%

Spending by fiscal year

39KFY2024
87.9KFY2025
11KFY2026

What was bought

Facilities & utilities$11K100%

Top industries (NAICS)

Utility system construction · 2371$11K100%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 6, 2026, loaded Oct 6, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Florida, so they do not add up across cities.

Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Florida's figures are part of those of Lake County, FL ($14.6M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.1% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Lake Mack-Forest Hills is mostly in Lake County.

See federal money in Lake County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Florida is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).