Photo: Proarte · CC BY-SA 4.0Lakewood has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each
Household incomes here are higher than in 88% of U.S. towns. Employers in Lakewood report 16,836 jobs for 36,849 working residents. Jobs and income earn Lakewood A; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Lakewood
The better-paid jobs are outside Lakewood
70% of Lakewood residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 46% of the jobs based in Lakewood pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Lakewood draws workers from far and wide
The 16,836 jobs in Lakewood are filled from a wide area. Lakewood’s own residents hold 8% and the ten next-biggest home towns 37%; the other 55% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Lakewood
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lakewood is better than 85% of U.S. towns, #119 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Lakewood’s grade up (among the top U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lakewood could be anywhere from A− to A.
What Lakewood’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lakewood, 2014 → 2024: 16,279 → 16,836. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lakewood’s own residents hold wherever they work.
15% of working residents work in Los Angeles
Where Lakewood clocks in
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The workday shuffle in and out of Lakewood
On a workday 35,548 residents head out to work, 1,301 work right here, and 15,535 people come in from elsewhere.
About 58,000 people are in Lakewood on a workday afternoon, 26% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The daily trip from Lakewood: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lakewood workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 35,154 commuters (the 13% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How many miles Lakewood commutes
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Lakewood is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lakewood is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns, #449 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 7.1% across California.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 40,553 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 45% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 12% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 63% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.3% of Lakewood households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Lakewood’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lakewood is 116th of 565 U.S. towns of 55,000 to 105,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Dublin CA | 71,602 | $214K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 114 | Green Township OH | 60,480 | $88K | 4.8% | 3.0% | 9% | A |
| 115 | Parsippany-Troy Hills Township NJ | 56,633 | $112K | 4.8% | 5.4% | 12% | A |
| 116 | Lakewood CA | 78,010 | $119K | 5.8% | 5.2% | 4% | A |
| 117 | Mission Viejo CA | 90,484 | $136K | 5.6% | 5.2% | 9% | A |
| 118 | Livonia MI | 92,603 | $98K | 4.7% | 4.6% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 565 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 50% | D |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Lakewood, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Lakewood and its neighbors: 17% work next door
The biggest share goes to Long Beach (14%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lakewood workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakewood | – | A | A− | 28 min | $119,177 |
| Long Beach | 14% | B | A | 30 min | $87,430 |
| Cerritos | 3% | A | A− | 32 min | $135,439 |
| Hawaiian Gardens | under 2% | B | A | 27 min | $76,341 |
| Cypress | under 2% | A− | A− | 29 min | $130,215 |
| Bellflower | under 2% | B− | A | 29 min | $78,722 |
| La Palma | under 2% | A | A− | 33 min | $117,989 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lakewood’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Lakewood: questions
What is the median household income in Lakewood?
$119,177 (±$4,606) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lakewood?
5.8%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lakewood?
28 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lakewood work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (15%, 20 mi), Long Beach (14%, 5 mi), Anaheim (4%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Lakewood walkable?
Lakewood is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 10.9 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lakewood without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 12% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lakewood, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lakewood
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.