• county
  • FIPS 18089
  • Largest town: Hammond

Lake County, Indiana

Lake County had 502,955 residents in the Census Vintage 2024 estimate, on 498.9 square miles of land. It ranks 2nd of 92 in Indiana by population and 12th by land area.

Population
502,955
#2 of 92 in Indiana · #148 in US
Area
498.9 sq mi
#12 of 92 in Indiana · #2,089 in US
Density
1,008 / sq mi
#2 of 92 in Indiana · #159 in US
Median household income
$69,182
#40 of 92 in Indiana · #1,058 in US

Census Vintage 2024 estimates · SAIPE 2023 income · 2024 Gazetteer land area

Lake County within Indiana. Pin: Indianapolis.

Measure from here

Tools and pages that start from Lake County

Lake County population, land area and income

Lake County had 502,955 residents in the Census Vintage 2024 estimate, on 498.9 square miles of land. It ranks 2nd of 92 in Indiana by population and 12th by land area. That works out to 1,008.1 people per square mile, 10.5 times the US average of 96.3, and in the top tenth nationally.

The median county-equivalent in Indiana has 34,874 residents, so Lake County is 14.4 times that size.

Its SAIPE 2023 median household income of $69,182 is above the national county median among 3,143 counties with an estimate.

National rank among 3,144

Population

502,955

3144th1st

148th of 3,144 (US)

Land area

499 sq mi

3144th1st

2089th of 3,144 (US)

Density

1,008.1 / sq mi

3144th1st

159th of 3,144 (US)

Median household income

$69,182

3143rd1st

1058th of 3,143 (US)

Rank within Indiana (92)

Population

502,955

92nd1st

2nd of 92 (IN)

Land area

499 sq mi

92nd1st

12th of 92 (IN)

Density

1,008.1 / sq mi

92nd1st

2nd of 92 (IN)

Median household income

$69,182

92nd1st

40th of 92 (IN)

How Lake County's population changed since 2020

Lake County gained 3,992 residents between the July 2020 and July 2024 estimates, a rise of 0.8%. That ranks 45th of 92 in Indiana for growth. The median Indiana county changed by +0.8%, and the state as a whole by +2.0%.

Since the April 2020 estimates base, Lake County recorded 23,003 births and 24,451 deaths, a natural change of -1,448. Net international migration added +3,112 and net domestic migration, people moving to or from other US counties, came to +2,441. The largest single component was international migration, which added 3,112 people.

499.0k2020499.3k2021500.1k2022500.6k2023503.0k2024
Census Vintage 2024 county estimates for July 1 of each year. The axis starts above zero so year-to-year changes are visible.

Components of change, April 2020 to July 2024

Births
23,003
Deaths
24,451
Net international migration
+3,112
Net domestic migration
+2,441
Change, July 2023 to July 2024
+2,364

Where Lake County is

The Census internal point of Lake County is at 41.472200, -87.374300. It sits in UTM zone 16N. The map shades Indiana's 92 county-equivalents by population change from 2020 to 2024, darker for faster growth, with Lake County outlined. Dots are towns of 1,000+ people with residents in it.

Vigo County: +0.0%Fayette County: -0.1%Grant County: -0.1%Noble County: +0.7%Clay County: -0.0%Fulton County: -2.3%Henry County: +0.3%Jasper County: +1.5%Carroll County: +2.0%Huntington County: +0.8%Howard County: +0.6%Tipton County: -0.4%Starke County: +0.3%Lawrence County: +0.4%Jennings County: +0.2%Jay County: -1.5%Greene County: +1.3%Blackford County: -2.4%Madison County: +3.1%Parke County: +2.1%DeKalb County: +2.4%Scott County: +1.5%Benton County: +1.7%Wells County: +2.3%Wabash County: -0.5%Union County: -2.8%Marshall County: +0.8%Putnam County: +3.1%Clinton County: -0.8%Hamilton County: +8.8%Hancock County: +10.8%Jackson County: +2.0%Hendricks County: +8.5%Johnson County: +5.1%Decatur County: -0.2%Lake County: +0.8%Newton County: +2.5%Fountain County: +2.1%Crawford County: +0.0%Perry County: +0.9%Martin County: +0.6%Dearborn County: +1.3%Morgan County: +2.8%Monroe County: +0.0%Switzerland County: +2.5%Ohio County: +1.2%Sullivan County: -0.2%Franklin County: +1.5%Adams County: +2.0%Jefferson County: -0.5%Knox County: -1.1%Ripley County: +0.8%Vanderburgh County: +0.0%Gibson County: -0.1%LaGrange County: +1.5%Dubois County: -0.0%Harrison County: +0.8%Randolph County: -0.3%Brown County: +1.1%Shelby County: +1.3%Tippecanoe County: +2.8%Daviess County: +2.2%Delaware County: +1.1%Elkhart County: +0.2%Whitley County: +1.6%Allen County: +3.4%Montgomery County: +1.8%Miami County: -0.8%St. Joseph County: +0.4%Kosciusko County: +0.6%Floyd County: +1.8%Rush County: -0.1%Wayne County: -0.2%Posey County: -0.5%Clark County: +5.0%Orange County: -0.1%Marion County: +0.5%Boone County: +10.7%Porter County: +1.5%Steuben County: +1.2%Vermillion County: +0.8%Cass County: -0.6%Owen County: +2.5%White County: +0.6%Washington County: +0.4%Pulaski County: -0.8%Pike County: -1.1%Warren County: +0.3%Warrick County: +3.7%Spencer County: +1.8%LaPorte County: -0.8%Bartholomew County: +3.1%
Change 2020 to 2024
  1. < -0.2%
  2. < +0.4%
  3. < +1.2%
  4. < +2.1%
  5. ≥ +2.1%
no data

Orange pin: Lake County internal point. Dark pin: Indianapolis.

Internal point

Decimal
41.472200, -87.374300
DMS
41°28'19.92"N 87°22'27.48"W
UTM
16N 468746.5E 4591245.5N
Geohash
dp3ggtzcp
Plus code
86HJFJCG+V7

Towns in Lake County

18 incorporated places of 1,000+ people have residents in Lake County, 460,461 people together, or 92% of the county. Each figure counts only the part of the town inside Lake County; towns marked "part" extend into another county. The largest is Hammond with 76,030.

  1. 01Hammond76,030
  2. 02Gary67,555
  3. 03Merrillville36,989
  4. 04Crown Point35,097
  5. 05Schererville29,780
  6. 06Hobart29,418
  7. 07East Chicago25,768
  8. 08St. John24,250
  9. 09Munster23,634
  10. 10Highland23,497
  11. 11Cedar Lake16,404
  12. 12Dyer16,341
  13. 13Griffith16,192
  14. 14Lake Station13,033
  15. 15Lowell11,449
Census Vintage 2024 subcounty estimates, county parts of incorporated places (SUMLEV 157).

Counties bordering Lake County

The Census 2024 county adjacency file lists 6 neighbors for Lake County, including 3 across a state line. The most populous is Cook County, IL, with 5,182,617 residents. Distances run between Census internal points in a straight line.

Distance to Indianapolis and the nearest big city

Indianapolis is 133.9 miles SSE of Lake County's internal point in a straight line. The nearest place of 100,000 or more is Chicago, IL (population 2,721,308), 29.9 miles away. The nearest place of 10,000 or more is Merrillville, IN (population 36,989), 2.9 miles away.

Lake County FIPS code

The FIPS code of Lake County is 18089: state code 18 for Indiana plus county code 089. Use it as text, with the leading zero, when joining Census, BLS, or CDC county tables. SAIPE lists its 2023 median household income as $69,182.

Questions people ask

What is the population of Lake County, Indiana?

The Census Vintage 2024 estimate for July 1, 2024 is 502,955. That is up 3,992 people (0.8%) from the July 2020 estimate of 498,963.

What is the FIPS code of Lake County?

18089. The first two digits (18) are Indiana; the last three (089) identify the county.

What is the largest town in Lake County?

Hammond, with 76,030 residents inside Lake County in 2024.

Which counties border Lake County?

6 county-equivalents border it in the Census 2024 adjacency file: Cook County, IL; Will County, IL; Porter County, IN; Kankakee County, IL; Jasper County, IN; Newton County, IN.

Sources and data as of

Data as of: Census Vintage 2024 population estimates, 2024 Gazetteer land area and internal points, SAIPE 2023 median household income.

  1. 01Census Vintage 2024 county population estimates
  2. 02Census 2024 Gazetteer, counties
  3. 03Census SAIPE 2023 state and county estimates
  4. 04Census Vintage 2024 subcounty population estimates
  5. 05Census 2024 county adjacency file
  6. 06Census 2024 cartographic boundary file, counties (1:5,000,000)

How every number is computed: methodology. Spotted a wrong figure? Report an error.