Lakewood is a larger medium-sized town located in the state of New Jersey. With a population of 69,398 people and 20 associated neighborhoods, Lakewood is the 15th largest community in New Jersey. Much of the housing stock in Lakewood was built relatively recently. The construction of new real estate can often be taken as an indication that the local Lakewood economy is robust, and that jobs or other amenities are attracting an influx of new residents. This seems to be the case in Lakewood, where the median household income is $54,826.00. Lakewood home prices are not only among the most expensive in New Jersey, but Lakewood real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.Lakewood is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 87.68% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Lakewood is a town of professionals, sales and office workers, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Lakewood who work in teaching (21.10%), office and administrative support (14.45%), and sales jobs (12.33%). Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 12.94% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. The overall education level of Lakewood citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 32.69% of adults in Lakewood have at least a bachelor's degree, and the average American community has 21.84%. The per capita income in Lakewood in 2022 was $17,817, which is low income relative to New Jersey and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $71,268 for a family of four. However, Lakewood contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Lakewood also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 30.14% of its population below the federal poverty line.Lakewood is a somewhat ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Lakewood home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Lakewood residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Lakewood also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 11.68% of the town’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Lakewood include Polish, European, Hungarian, Russian, and German. The most common language spoken in Lakewood is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and German/Yiddish.
