All places > Pierce County > Lakewood

Pierce County · Washington

Lakewood, WA

Public service and care work anchor Lakewood’s job base.

Population

64,980

2% more from 2021 to 2026

Family households

57.1%

±3 points at 90% confidence

Local jobs

29,363

5% more from 2018 to 2023

Median income

$74,720

±$4,086 at 90% confidence

City overview

The forces shaping Lakewood now.

The employers behind the economy

Public service and care work anchor Lakewood’s job base.

Lakewood contains 29,363 workplace jobs. Healthcare accounts for 30% of them. Hospitality is next at 12%.

Mental health care, schools, transit, and higher education account for about one in five Lakewood jobs before its private employers are counted. The city’s employment base is closely tied to public services and care work, with manufacturing and distribution adding a second layer.

Workplace jobs: 2023

A campus city

Clover Park Technical College and Pierce College Fort Steilacoom make higher education part of Lakewood’s economy.

57% of households are estimated to be families. Clover Park Technical College and Pierce College Fort Steilacoom add a postsecondary population that is not visible in the public-school count.

Lakewood’s campuses change demand by hour and season: transit, rentals, and inexpensive food matter in ways an office count misses. Enrollment at Clover Park Technical College and Pierce College Fort Steilacoom will show the scale.

Households: ACS 2024 · public-school locations: OSPI 2025–26

The commute that shapes the city

Lakewood sends its largest stream of resident workers to Tacoma.

26% of observed resident job destinations are in Tacoma, followed by Seattle at 13%. Only 20% are inside Lakewood.

Current GTFS schedules 11,226 weekday stop departures at 273 stops inside Lakewood; that supply still needs to be tested against the route to Tacoma, the largest outside job destination. Schedule supply is not ridership.

Workplace flows: 2023 · commute modes: ACS 2024

The trajectory

Both sides of Lakewood’s day are growing: the people who live there and the jobs located there.

Lakewood’s population rose 2% from 2021–2026; its workplace job count rose 5% from 2018–2023. The source periods differ because the two series are released on different schedules.

The opportunity in Lakewood is to connect the two gains: more residents can support local commerce, while more nearby jobs can shorten some trips now led outside the city by Tacoma. Housing and mobility decide whether that happens.

Population: 2021–2026 · jobs: 2018–2023

The housing divide

Housing costs consume too much income for 53% of Lakewood’s renters.

53% of measured renter households are cost-burdened, compared with 26% of measured owners. 52% of occupied homes are rentals.

Lakewood renters react to current prices, while many established owners carry older purchase prices and mortgages. Its 27-point burden gap is lost in a single affordability average.

ACS 2024 five-year estimates

People

Who lives here—and which households shape demand?

The typical household estimate is 2.3 people. 57% are estimated to be family households, while 33% are estimated to be people living alone.

Average household size

2.3

±0.1 people at 90% confidence

Median age

37.4

±1.7 years at 90% confidence

Living alone

33%

±4 points at 90% confidence

Bachelor’s degree+

23%

Among residents age 25 and older. ±2 points at 90% confidence

Population composition

Who lives here

Estimated share of all Lakewood residents. Each percentage uses the city’s total population as its denominator.

White, non-Hispanic45% ±3 pts

Hispanic / Latino, any race19% ±3 pts

Black, non-Hispanic13% ±2 pts

Two or more races, non-Hispanic11% ±2 pts

Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic3.5% ±1 pts

Filipino2.8% ±0.7 pts

Korean1.9% ±0.6 pts

Another race, non-Hispanic0.8% ±0.5 pts

Vietnamese0.5% ±0.3 pts

Two or more Asian groups0.5% ±0.3 pts

Cambodian0.4% ±0.4 pts

American Indian / Alaska Native, non-Hispanic0.3% ±0.2 pts

Japanese0.3% ±0.2 pts

Chinese, except Taiwanese0.2% ±0.1 pts

Asian Indian0.2% ±0.1 pts

Thai0.1% ±0.1 pts

Nepalese<0.1% ±0.1 pts

Pakistani<0.1% ±<0.1 pt

Laotian<0.1% ±<0.1 pt

Taiwanese<0.1% ±<0.1 pt

Burmese<0.1% ±<0.1 pt

0% published estimate: Hmong, Mongolian, Okinawan, Other East Asian, Indonesian, Malaysian, Mien, Singaporean, Other Southeast Asian, Bangladeshi, Bhutanese, Sikh, Sri Lankan, Other South Asian, Afghan, Kazakh, Uzbek, Other Central Asian, Other Asian, specified, Other Asian, not specified. Zero is not proof that no residents identify with that group.

ACS 2020–2024 · 5-year estimates

Dataset: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates · tables B03002 and B02015
Period: 2020–2024
Geography: Lakewood Census place
Definition: Race and Hispanic/Latino origin are self-reported Census concepts. Hispanic/Latino may be of any race; the broad display uses non-Hispanic race categories plus Hispanic/Latino of any race.
Method: Every percentage is shown with its 90% margin of error. Detailed Asian estimates use the Asian-alone universe and are divided by the city population for display.

Open the official source ↗

Work

What powers the local economy—and how dependent is it?

Healthcare & Social Assistance accounts for 30% of jobs located in Lakewood. The city’s job base changed +16% between 2010 and 2023.

Housing

What kinds of homes exist—and where is pressure showing?

48% of occupied homes are estimated to be owner-occupied and 52% rented. The estimates suggest 53% of renter households and 26% of owner households spend at least 30% of income on housing.

Home value profile

What owner-occupied homes are worth

Owner estimates from the 2020–2024 American Community Survey—not listings, recorded sales, or appraisals. The final Census band is open-ended: $2 million and above.

Median estimate$461k±16006.0 at 90% confidence

Middle half of homes$343k–$636kLower to upper quartile of owner estimates

Luxury-home concentration1%≈179 homes · estimated at $2M+

Under $500k59%

$500–749k29%

$750–999k6%

$1–1.49M3%

$1.5–1.99M1%

$2M+1%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-year tables B25075–B25078. Values cover owner-occupied homes only and do not measure current asking prices or recent purchase prices.

Owner-occupied

48%

±3 points at 90% confidence

Renter cost-burdened

53%

Spending 30% or more of income on gross rent. ±7 points at 90% confidence

Owner cost-burdened

26%

Spending 30% or more on selected owner costs. ±4 points at 90% confidence

Homes authorized, 2025

441

Permit authorizations—not construction starts or completed homes.

Permit activity: U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, final annual estimate for 2025. Housing units authorized are not starts or completions.

Mobility

Where do residents need to go—and who has a real alternative to driving?

Current transit schedules include 273 stops and 11,226 weekday stop departures inside Lakewood. The 2020–2024 ACS separately estimates how workers usually commuted; it does not count every transit trip or describe today's schedule.

Weekday departures

11,226

Scheduled stop departures in the current covered-feed snapshot—not riders.

Transit stops

273

Matched inside city limits; nearby cross-border stops are separate.

Top outside workplace

Tacoma

26% of observed resident job destinations in 2023 LODES.

Work inside the city

20%

Share of observed resident job destinations located in the same city in 2023 LODES.

City boundary and regional context● nearby ● work destinations

Daily life

Community institutions and local activity

Public schools, libraries, pharmacies, and listed everyday places show part of the local inventory inside Lakewood; taxable sales show the scale and direction of local commercial activity. Residents also use places across city lines, so a boundary count is not the same as access.

Civic life

Lakewood only became a city in 1996.

Lakewood voters elect the council, which hires a professional city manager to run administration. The mayor is selected from the council, so executive oversight works through the council rather than a separately elected chief executive.

Government form

Council–Manager

The elected council hires and oversees the city manager.

Mayor listed

Paul Bocchi

Generally selected from the council—not a separately elected executive.

Council representatives listed

Current directory entries; vacancies or updates can make this differ from authorized seats.

Incorporated

1996

Code city under Washington law.

Structure, meetings, and current officials: Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington (MRSC), checked 2026-09-08. Election administration and certified results: the county election offices listed above. Confirm live agendas and officeholders at the source.

Change

What is changing the city’s trajectory?

Population and jobs do not always move together. Reading both helps distinguish a growing employment center from a city whose households are increasingly tied to opportunities elsewhere.

Residents

64,980

2% more from 2021 to 2026

Local jobs

29,363

5% more from 2018 to 2023

Retail trade, 2023–2024

+1%

Nominal taxable-sales change; not adjusted for inflation.

Data & details — selected comparable metrics across 82 places

Local jobs

LODES

29,363

Higher than 67% of places

Long-run job change

LODES

+16%

Higher than only 17% of places

Weekday transit departures

GTFS snapshot

11,226

Higher than 79% of places

Multifamily permitting

Census BPS

Near a 15-year high

Recent annual pace compared with this city's own 2010–2025 record

2BR Fair Market Rent

HUD, county-level

$2,064

FY2027 HUD program benchmark; chart shows FY2020–FY2027 history. Shared across this HUD metro area—not a place-specific market rent.

Work — sector breakdown

Share of local jobs by sector · LODES · workplace location, not resident industry

Healthcare & Social Assistance30% (8,874)

Hospitality12% (3,516)

Retail12% (3,465)

Education (includes academia/research)12% (3,401)

Logistics / Industrial11% (3,216)

Construction / Real Estate8% (2,334)

Other4% (1,082)

Manufacturing (includes, but is not limited to, aerospace)3% (988)

Professional Services (partial technology proxy)3% (794)

Administrative & Support Services2% (656)

Finance2% (507)

Government (Public Administration)1% (352)

Information (partial technology proxy)1% (178)

Where Lakewood's workforce lives (inbound)

LODES OD — commuting flows into local jobs

Tacoma

29.5%

Lakewood

25.1%

University Place

6.9%

Puyallup

4.3%

Federal Way

4.1%

Lakewood, WA

The forces shaping Lakewood now.

Public service and care work anchor Lakewood’s job base.

Clover Park Technical College and Pierce College Fort Steilacoom make higher education part of Lakewood’s economy.

Lakewood sends its largest stream of resident workers to Tacoma.

Both sides of Lakewood’s day are growing: the people who live there and the jobs located there.

Housing costs consume too much income for 53% of Lakewood’s renters.

Who lives here—and which households shape demand?

Who lives here

What powers the local economy—and how dependent is it?

Jobs by sector

Verified employer anchors

What kinds of homes exist—and where is pressure showing?

What owner-occupied homes are worth

The housing mix we can estimate confidently

Where do residents need to go—and who has a real alternative to driving?

Where resident workers go

How residents usually get to work

About how long does it take to get where people go?

Community institutions and local activity

Places for everyday needs in Lakewood

2 public-library branches inside Lakewood

The schools inside Lakewood.

Lakewood sits near the regional middle for retail activity per resident.

Lakewood only became a city in 1996.

When does the Lakewood council meet?

Where to check Lakewood election results.

What is changing the city’s trajectory?