Lakewood is a larger medium-sized city located in the state of Washington. With a population of 62,572 people and 13 associated neighborhoods, Lakewood is the 20th largest community in Washington.Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Lakewood is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Lakewood is a city of sales and office workers, service providers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Lakewood who work in office and administrative support (13.86%), sales jobs (8.73%), and management occupations (8.52%). There are quite a few people in the armed forces living in Lakewood, and when you visit or drive around town, you will see military people in and out of uniform, shopping, enjoying life, and being part of the community. A relatively large number of people in Lakewood telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 7.45% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. 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 population of Lakewood 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 Lakewood, 23.47% have at least a bachelor's degree. The per capita income in Lakewood in 2022 was $39,363, which is upper middle income relative to Washington and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $157,452 for a family of four. However, Lakewood contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Lakewood is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. 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 18.12% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Lakewood include German, Irish, English, Italian, and Norwegian. Lakewood also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 15.41%. The most common language spoken in Lakewood is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Tagalog.
