Lake County, IL jobs, unemployment and layoffs

Lake County’s unemployment rate is 3.6%. Employers filed 3 layoff notices here in the last 12 months. 657 open professional jobs are in its cities.

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Lake County economy

3.6%
unemployment, Sep 2026
4.4% the month before
365,784
in the labor force
Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics
711,885
people in Lake County
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
$108,917
median household income
Source: Census ACS
47%
of workers in white-collar occupations
Management, business, financial and professional; Census ACS

Where Lake County ranks

Where Lake County placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.

November 2026

#16Counties with the most job openings per unemployed person in the Great Lakes6 per 100 · of 53
#17Counties with the most jobs in AI-exposed sectors in the Great Lakes24% · of 100
#18Best counties for laid-off professionals in the Great Lakes57 / 100 · of 52
#20Counties with the highest share of white-collar workers in the Great Lakes47% · of 100
#24Best county job markets for job seekers in the Great Lakes50 / 100 · of 52
#24Counties with the most job openings per unemployed person in the Midwest6 per 100 · of 69

Lake County outlook: Steady

Built from public Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census figures. It describes the area, not any one employer in it.

Private-sector jobs down 0.9% from 2022 to 2025
Population up 0.8% from 2020 to 2025
Unemployment 3.6%, down 0.8 points from a year ago
Sectors adding the most jobs: health care (+4,406 jobs), wholesale (+1,745 jobs)
Sectors losing the most jobs: manufacturing (−4,127 jobs), admin & staffing (−3,589 jobs)

Learn and get funded in Lake County

Which AI skills each kind of job asks for, with the pay premium.
Your local workforce board and American Job Centers: training vouchers and re-employment help.
Grants and funding for job seekers, ranked for your state and situation.
Unemployment benefits by state, if you are between jobs.

Lake County layoffs

3
Layoff notices, last 12 months
1,203
workers named
A floor: states may leave out counts
3
employers

Layoff notices filed in Lake County, newest first
Notice date	Employer	City or county	Workers	Type	Source
Oct 29, 2026	The Allstaff Group	Gurnee	659	—	State record
Aug 3, 2026	Essendant Co.	Lincolnshire	510	Closure	State record
Jul 1, 2026	Precision Practice Management	Waukegan	34	Closure	State record

All layoff notices in the state

Employers hiring most in Lake County

Employers with the most open professional roles in this county’s cities. The county is taken from each job’s city, so roles with no city are not counted.

W.W. Grainger26 open roles
Reynolds Consumer Products15 open roles
Novolex14 open roles
Plexus13 open roles
Abbott10 open roles
AbbVie8 open roles
Ahead8 open roles
Illinois Tool Works8 open roles
Atwell7 open roles
Sysmex America7 open roles

Largest employers headquartered in Lake County

AbbVie20,001–100,000 employees
Zebra Technologies5,001–20,000 employees

Employee counts with a year are published figures (Wikidata). Other sizes are estimates from our company directory, not payroll counts.

Colleges in Lake County

Colleges in Lake County
College	City	Type	Students
Lake Forest College	Lake Forest	Private non-profit 4-year	1,000–4,999
Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science	North Chicago	Private non-profit 4-year	1,000–4,999
Lake Forest Graduate School of Management	Lake Forest	Private non-profit 4-year	Under 1,000
Trinity International University-Illinois	Deerfield	Private non-profit 4-year	Under 1,000
University of Saint Mary of the Lake	Mundelein	Private non-profit 4-year	Under 1,000

Workforce development and job centers

The public workforce board and American Job Centers serving Lake County. They offer free help with job search, training and filing for benefits.

Laid off in Illinois? How to file for unemployment in Illinois (steps, weekly amount and the appeal deadline).

Lake County Workforce Development Board
Lake

Job Center of Lake County - Waukegan
Waukegan · Comprehensive · 847-377-3450
Monday 08:30-17:00, Tuesday 08:30-17:00, Wednesday 08:30-17:00, Thursday 08:30-17:00, Friday 08:30-17:00,

Cities in Lake County

Show all 17

Other Illinois counties

All of Illinois

Laid off or looking for work in Lake County?

See what to do first and the jobs open near you.

See your options after a layoff

Sources: Census Bureau and BLS (county unemployment is not seasonally adjusted); layoff notices from Illinois’s published record; job counts from our live job board; IPEDS for colleges; CareerOneStop for workforce boards and job centers. Illinois unemployment benefits and severance rules.

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