Lake Wales, FL

Census Place

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2023 Population

16,365

0.547% 1-year decline

US Senator

N/ARick Scott

Republican Party

US Senator

N/AAshley Moody

Republican Party

2023 Median Age

41.1

4.64% 1-year decrease

2023 Poverty Rate

24.4%

20.1% 1-year increase

2023 Median Household Income

$55,799

0.0609% 1-year decline

2023 Employed Population

5,624

8.19% 1-year decline

About

The 5 largest ethnic groups in Lake Wales, FL are White (Non-Hispanic) (47.6%), Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) (19.2%), Two+ (Hispanic) (12.9%), Other (Hispanic) (9.94%), and White (Hispanic) (7.76%).

None of the households in Lake Wales, FL reported speaking a non-English language at home as their primary shared language. This does not consider the potential multi-lingual nature of households, but only the primary self-reported language spoken by all members of the household.

95% of the residents in Lake Wales, FL are U.S. citizens.

The largest universities in N/A are Ruben's Five Star Academy (18 degrees awarded in 2023).

Most people in Lake Wales, FL drove alone to work, and the average commute time was 26.4 minutes. The average car ownership in Lake Wales, FL was 2 cars per household.

United States Florida Polk County, FL Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL Polk County (South) PUMA, FL

Population & Diversity

Lake Wales, FL is home to a population of 16.4k people, from which 95% are citizens. As of 2023, 9.71% of Lake Wales, FL residents were born outside of the country (1.59k people).

In 2023, there were 2.48 times more White (Non-Hispanic) residents (7.79k people) in Lake Wales, FL than any other race or ethnicity. There were 3.14k Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) and 2.1k Two+ (Hispanic) residents, the second and third most common ethnic groups.

Population & Diversity

Citizenship

95%

2023 Citizenship

94.1%

2022 Citizenship

The following chart shows US citizenship percentages in Lake Wales, FL compared to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Diversity

Race and Ethnicity

The 3 largest ethnic groups in Lake Wales, FL

White (Non-Hispanic)
7.79k ± 1.01k
Black or African American (Non-Hispanic)
3.14k ± 722
Two+ (Hispanic)
2.1k ± 1.02k

30.7%

Hispanic Population

5.02k people

30.7% of the people in Lake Wales, FL are hispanic (5.02k people).

The following chart shows the 7 races represented in Lake Wales, FL as a share of the total population.

Foreign-Born Population

9.71%

2023 Foreign-Born Population

1.59k people

10.2%

2022 Foreign-Born Population

1.68k people

The following chart shows the percentage of foreign-born residents in Lake Wales, FL compared to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Military

Veterans

Most Common Service Period

Vietnam
596 ± 195
Gulf War (1990s)
153 ± 101
Gulf War (2001-)
96 ± 74

Lake Wales, FL has a large population of military personnel who served in Vietnam, 3.9 times greater than any other conflict.

Economy

The economy of Lake Wales, FL employs 5.62k people. The largest industries in Lake Wales, FL are Health Care & Social Assistance (842 people), Retail Trade (674 people), and Transportation & Warehousing (653 people), and the highest paying industries are Wholesale Trade ($95,833), Educational Services ($50,121), and Transportation & Warehousing ($46,209).

Employment

Occupations

5.62k

2023 Value

± 695

−8.19%

1 Year decline

± 19%

The most common job groups, by number of people living in Lake Wales, FL, are Office & Administrative Support Occupations (796 people), Transportation Occupations (529 people), and Sales & Related Occupations (486 people). This chart illustrates the share breakdown of the primary jobs held by residents of Lake Wales, FL.

Unemployment Insurance Claims

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for false.

This chart shows weekly unemployment insurance claims in Florida (not-seasonally adjusted) compared with the four states with the most similar impact.

The most recent data point uses Advance State Claims data, which can be revised in subsequent weeks.

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Industries

Employment by Industries

5.62k

2023 Value

± 695

−8.19%

1 Year decline

± 19%

The most common employment sectors for those who live in Lake Wales, FL, are Health Care & Social Assistance (842 people), Retail Trade (674 people), and Transportation & Warehousing (653 people). This chart shows the share breakdown of the primary industries for residents of Lake Wales, FL, though some of these residents may live in Lake Wales, FL and work somewhere else. Census data is tagged to a residential address, not a work address.

Employment by Industry Sector

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for N/A.

Y-Axis

N/A%

Year-over-year N/A

Employment change between N/A N/A and N/A N/A

As of N/A N/A, there are N/A people employed in N/A. This represents a N/A% N/A in employment when compared to N/A N/A.

Right after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, during N/A, a general dip can be seen across industry sectors, resulting in an overall N/A in employment by N/A%.

The following chart shows monthly employment numbers for each industry sector in N/A.

Civics

Rick Scott and Ashley Moody are the senators currently representing the state of Florida. In the United States, senators are elected to 6-year terms with the terms for individual senators staggered.

Florida is currently represented by 26 members in the U.S. house, and members of the House of Representives are elected to 2-year terms.

Senator Elections

US Senators from Florida

N/ARick Scott

Senator from Florida

Assumed office on January 8, 2019
Inauguration delayed in order to finish his term as Governor of Florida.

N/AAshley Moody

Senator from Florida

Assumed office on January 21, 2025
While elections for full class 3 terms will take place in 2028, Florida will hold a special election in 2026 to elect a senator to complete the remainder of Marco Rubio's term.

Rick Scott and Ashley Moody are the senators currently representing Florida.

In the United States, senators are elected to 6-year terms with the terms for individual senators staggered.

The following chart shows elected senators in Florida over time, excluding special elections, colored by their political party.

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US Representative Elections

US Representatives from Florida

Florida is currently represented by 26 members in the U.S. house.

Members of the House of Representives are elected to 2-year terms, and the following chart shows the how the members for Florida have changed over time starting in 2008.

Education

Most students graduating from Universities in Lake Wales, FL are Hispanic or Latino (11 and 61.1%), followed by Black or African American (6 and 33.3%), White (1 and 5.56%), and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders (0 and 0%).

Completions

Student Diversity

In 2023, 12 men were awarded degrees from institutions in Lake Wales, FL, which is 2 times more than the 6 female students who received degrees in the same year.

In 2023, the most common race/ethnicity group awarded degrees at institutions was Hispanic or Latino students. These 11 degrees mean that there were 1.83 times more degrees awarded to Hispanic or Latino students then the next closest race/ethnicity group, Black or African American, with 6 degrees awarded.

Awarded Degrees over Time

The graph shows the evolution of awarded degrees by degrees. Under the paragraphs, the average number of awarded degrees by university in each degree is shown.

Working Population

Educational Pyramid

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for N/A.

Measure

In N/A, N/A% of men over 25 years of age had not completed any academic degree (no schooling), while N/A% of women were in the same situation.

This visualization shows the gender distribution of the population according to the academic level reached.

Educational Attainment

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for N/A.

The most common educational levels obtained by the working population in false were N/A.

This visualization illustrates the percentage distribution of the population according to the highest educational level reached. You can filter the data by race by using the selector above.

Housing & Living

People in Lake Wales, FL have an average commute time of 26.4 minutes, and they drove alone to work. Car ownership in Lake Wales, FL is approximately the same as the national average, with an average of 2 cars per household.

Equity

Income by Location

Use the dropdown to filter by race/ethnicity.

The following map shows all of the places in Lake Wales, FL colored by their Median Household Income (N/A).

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Household Income

Please note that the buckets used in this visualization were not evenly distributed by ACS when publishing the data.

$55,799

Median Household Income

± $11,695

N/A

Number of Households

± 0

The following chart displays the households in Lake Wales, FL distributed between a series of income buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households have an income in the $75k - $100k range.

Wage Distribution

The closest comparable wage GINI for Lake Wales, FL is from Lake Wales, FL.

N/A Wage GINI in N/A

In N/A, the income inequality in N/A was N/A according to the GINI calculation of the wage distribution. Income inequality had a N/A N/A from N/A to N/A, which means that wage distribution grew somewhat N/A even. The GINI for N/A was N/A than the national average of 0.478. In other words, wages are distributed N/A evenly in N/A in comparison to the national average.

This chart shows the number of workers in Lake Wales, FL across various wage buckets compared to the national average.

Transportation

Commuter Transportation

Most Common Commute in 2023

Drove Alone (79.3%)
Carpooled (11.2%)
Worked At Home (6.52%)

In 2023, 79.3% of workers in Lake Wales, FL drove alone to work, followed by those who carpooled to work (11.2%) and those who worked at home (6.52%).

The following chart shows the number of households using each mode of transportation over time, using a logarithmic scale on the y-axis to help better show variations in the smaller means of commuting.

Commute Time

26.4 minutes

Average Travel Time

Using averages, employees in Lake Wales, FL have a shorter commute time (26.4 minutes) than the normal US worker (26.6 minutes). Additionally, 4.24% of the workforce in Lake Wales, FL have "super commutes" in excess of 90 minutes.

The chart below shows how the median household income in Lake Wales, FL compares to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Car Ownership

2 cars

Average Number

The following chart displays the households in Lake Wales, FL distributed between a series of car ownership buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households in Lake Wales, FL have 2 cars.

Poverty

Poverty & Diversity

24.4% of the population for whom poverty status is determined in Lake Wales, FL (3.89k out of 16k people) live below the poverty line, a number that is higher than the national average of 12.4%. The largest demographic living in poverty are Females 65 - 74, followed by Males 6 - 11 and then Females 25 - 34.

The most common racial or ethnic group living below the poverty line in Lake Wales, FL is White, followed by Hispanic and Black.

The Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who classifies as impoverished. If a family's total income is less than the family's threshold than that family and every individual in it is considered to be living in poverty.

Social Needs

Data only available at the state level.

Most prevalent states

California
35,798 individuals
New York
5,087 individuals
Florida
4,915 individuals

In 2017, California had the highest estimated number of chronically homeless individuals in the nation, at 35,798. New York has the second highest (5,087), followed by Florida (4,915).

The following map shows the estimated number of chronically homeless individuals by state over multiple years.

The following chart shows the number of people with health coverage by gender.

Uninsured People

8.71%

Uninsured

31%

Employer Coverage

26.4%

Medicaid

19.1%

Medicare

13.3%

Non-Group

1.45%

Military or VA

The following chart shows how the percent of uninsured individuals in Lake Wales, FL changed over time compared with the percent of individuals enrolled in various types of health insurance.

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