Lake Wales is a medium-sized city located in the state of Florida. With a population of 16,774 people and 12 associated neighborhoods, Lake Wales is the 163rd largest community in Florida.Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Lake Wales is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Lake Wales is a city of sales and office workers, service providers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Lake Wales who work in office and administrative support (14.54%), sales jobs (8.24%), and healthcare (8.00%). The population of Lake Wales overall has a level of education that is slightly above the US average for all US cities and towns of 21.84%. Of adults 25 and older in Lake Wales, 23.26% have at least a bachelor's degree. The per capita income in Lake Wales in 2022 was $26,994, which is lower middle income relative to Florida and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $107,976 for a family of four. However, Lake Wales contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Lake Wales is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Lake Wales home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Lake Wales residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Lake Wales also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 27.53% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Lake Wales include German, English, Irish, Polish, and Italian. The most common language spoken in Lake Wales is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.
