Lakewood is a city located in Colorado. With a 2020 population of 158,660, it is the 5th largest city in Colorado (after , , , and ) and the 162nd largest city in the United States. Lakewood is currently growing at a rate of 0.59% annually and its population has increased by 10.97% since the most recent census, which recorded a population of 142,980 in 2010. Spanning over 44 miles, Lakewood has a population density of 3,686 people per square mile.
The average household income in Lakewood is $83,808 with a poverty rate of 9.64%. The median rental costs in recent years comes to $1,249 per month, and the median house value is $333,400. The median age in Lakewood is 38.8 years, 37.3 years for males, and 40.5 years for females. For every 100 females there are 97.4 males.
Lakewood is the most populous municipality of Jefferson County, Colorado about 7 miles southwest of Denver. This Home Rule or self-governing municipality is neither a town or city and it's the 5th largest city in Colorado in terms of population. Lakewood is part of the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metropolitan area which has an estimated population of 2.88 million.
Diversity and Population Statistics
Lakewood has a foreign-born population of about 10%. The community's median income for a household is $52,900, lower than the median household income for Colorado of $69,100.
Population Growth
In 2018, Colorado was the 7th fastest growing state, adding 80,000 new residents with a population growth rate of 1.4% over the last year. The state's population has grown by 13.2% or 700,000 people since 2010. Greater Denver's population growth has matched Colorado's but it's beginning to slow. Much of this growth has been concentrated in Douglas and Broomfield counties, not Jefferson County and the Lakewood area. Lakewood is expected to continue its modest growth after its population declined about 0.8% between 2000 and 2010.
Lakewood was first developed as a suburb in 1889. Prior to 1969, the Lakewood area had no municipal government and instead relied on the government and safety services of Jefferson County. In its early history, Lakewood was a farming community with orchards and ranches. It was incorporated as Jefferson City in 1969 but an election was held soon after and it was renamed Lakewood due to existing communities called Jefferson City in Missouri and Colorado. By this point, the population of Lakewood exceeded 90,000.