Naval Station Great Lakes is the "Quarterdeck of the Navy" — the service's only boot camp and its largest training station, on the shore of Lake Michigan in North Chicago, Illinois. Almost every enlisted sailor in today's Navy started here at Recruit Training Command (RTC), and many came back for an A-school run by the Training Support Center (TSC).
If you have orders here, you're most likely permanent staff, an instructor, or an A-school student — and unlike the recruits marching past Building 1's clocktower, you actually get to live in the area and put down roots for a tour. This guide covers where to live across Lake County, schools, BAH, the four-season Midwest reality, and the honest tradeoffs.
The base, in brief
Great Lakes is a training enterprise, not a fleet homeport. RTC runs the Navy's boot camp; TSC runs much of the follow-on A-school pipeline; Naval Service Training Command and Navy Talent Acquisition Group Great Lakes are headquartered here too. The installation is effectively a small city — 1,153 buildings on 1,628 acres, its own fire and security departments, and the historic Ross Field parade ground where recruits graduate every week.
Your first week at Great Lakes
Check in with your command, sort your ID/DEERS and the gates, and — because Lake County housing is spread across a dozen towns — start the where-to-live decision early. On-base options and the housing office are your first stop; most permanent-party families end up in one of the surrounding Lake County communities (below). Get your medical set up with the Lovell Federal Health Care Center, the unusual joint VA/Navy facility that serves the base.
The Lake County region
Great Lakes sits in Lake County, the band between Chicago and the Wisconsin line. It's a genuine four-season Midwest: green summers on the lake, real winters with snow. You're about 35 miles north of downtown Chicago (Metra commuter rail runs from the area into the city) and ~50 miles south of Milwaukee — so big-city culture, pro sports, and two major airports are all in reach, without big-city prices in most of the county.
Where to live: commute zones from Great Lakes
The towns around the base trade off commute, schools, price, and character — from North Chicago and Waukegan right at the gates, to family suburbs like Gurnee, Grayslake, Libertyville, and Lake Bluff, to Zion up toward the state line. The "Explore the area" cards below break down each one honestly. Drive times on this page are precomputed from the base.
Gates and access
Great Lakes runs standard DoD access — bring your ID, and confirm your specific gate and hours with your command (gate hours and commercial-vehicle rules rotate). The base is right off Illinois Route 137 / Buckley Road with quick access to I-94 (the Tri-State) and US-41.
On-base life — services and family programs
As the Navy's biggest training base, Great Lakes carries a full slate of on-base services — exchange, commissary, fitness, child development, and MWR — plus the Lovell FHCC for medical. (The specific on-base facility pins are being added to the map.)
School districts
Lake County is a patchwork of school districts, and which one you're in depends entirely on the town and address — North Chicago SD 187, Waukegan CUSD 60, and the various Gurnee/Grayslake/Libertyville/Lake Bluff districts each differ. Pull the specific feeder school for any address before you sign; the area pages flag the district per town.
BAH and cost of living
Great Lakes pays the Chicago, IL MHA for BAH — higher than a lot of the Midwest, which reflects the metro. Cost of living varies widely across Lake County: the lakefront and the north-shore-adjacent towns run expensive, while the western and northern county towns stretch your BAH further. Illinois has a flat state income tax and relatively high property taxes — factor the latter if you're buying. Pull current BAH from DTMO.
Practical PCS logistics
Plan for winter moves — a December/January report date means snow and cold, so build weather buffer into your travel and your HHG delivery window. If you're driving in, the I-94/I-294 Tri-State is the spine of the region (tolled — get an I-PASS). Two airports serve the area for flights home: O'Hare (ORD) to the south and Milwaukee Mitchell (MKE) to the north.
Your PCS playbook for Great Lakes
Start your timeline the day orders drop, decide your Lake County town early (commute vs. schools vs. price), pull BAH from DTMO, and verify the school feeder for any address. Use the tools on this page to put real numbers to it.
Vetted partners (coming)
Local realtors, movers, and home-services pros for the Great Lakes area are coming to the directory — see the "vetted pros near Great Lakes" link below.