The County has a population of 475,594 over 501 square miles or 496,000 acres. Agriculture was originally the prime industry, but farming now only comprises 148,139 acres.
Lake County is susceptible to tornados, flooding, winter storms and earthquakes.
Winter storms have affected the County to the degree that Presidential Disasters were declared in March 198 and January 1999. In 1991, a major flood occurred along the Little Calumet River damaging over 260 homes in the Town of Highland. A Presidential Disaster was declared for this event. The Kankakee River is monitored on a regular basis and actions have been taken to keep the river in its banks. An Emergency Flood Response team has been assembled for localized flooding problems throughout the county and has logged in over 975 cases.