How serious are America’s mayors? · New Jersey township
Lakewood, NJ
141,985 people, 2024 · Census GEOID 3402938550 · Census profile · mayors: being verified · the council picks the mayor (36 of 20 years on record)
Overall in 2023, Lakewood ranked #8 of 340 cities and 1st of 14 in its peer group, on 9 of 9 measures. Weigh the measures yourself · how ranks are made
Its peer group is Lakewood and the 13 cities most like it in 2005 (size, income, poverty, industry, growth, density, place), fixed since: Dearborn MI, Lowell MA, Waterbury CT, New Bedford MA, Lynn MA, High Point NC, Allentown PA, Fayetteville AR, Bridgeport CT, Murfreesboro TN, Concord NC, Norman OK, Denton TX · on the map, and why
| Topline | 2005–2024 | Latest rank | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rankamong all cities with a score that year | #8 of 340 cities · 1st of 14 in its peer group · 2023 | #100 | #150 | #194 | #210 | #97 | #148 | #170 | #138 | #103 | #117 | #126 | #83 | #37 | #79 | #28 | #1 | #45 | #32 | #8 | #71 | |
| people · size, not ranked | 78,890 | 82,000 | 84,915 | 87,828 | 90,636 | 93,205 | 93,838 | 94,932 | 96,335 | 97,905 | 99,003 | 100,549 | 102,315 | 104,178 | 106,300 | 135,364 | 138,228 | 139,452 | 140,086 | 141,985 | ||
| net movers per 100 residents · estimate · higher is better | #83 of 340 cities · 6th of 14 in its peer group | +0.7 | +0.7 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.5 | — | +0.1 | +0.0 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +0.3 | +1.5 | +0.5 | +0.0 | +0.2 | |
| new homes per 1,000 residents · higher is better | #24 of 269 cities with data · 2nd of 10 in its peer group with data · 2023 | 4.6 | 2.3 | 5.0 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 1.8 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 7.7 | 6.6 | 12.6 | 3.9 | 5.2 | 8.1 | 7.6 | 11.0 | 11.9 | — | |
| rent as % of income · lower is better | #296 of 340 cities · 10th of 14 in its peer group | 29.8% | 41.3% | 35.3% | 42.8% | 44.4% | 41.3% | 44.0% | 34.5% | 43.1% | 39.8% | 38.2% | 36.9% | 32.3% | 35.3% | 27.8% | — | 41.8% | 30.9% | 30.4% | 28.8% | |
| per 100,000 residents · lower is better | #40 of 304 cities with data · 3rd of 14 in its peer group | — | 4.9 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 1.1 | 4.3 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | — | 0.9 | 1.5 | 2.2 | — | 0.7 | 1.4 | |
| per 100,000 residents · lower is better | #3 of 295 cities with data · 1st of 13 in its peer group with data | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3.6 | 2.1 | 2.1 | |
| jobs · size, not ranked | 26,778 | 27,391 | 27,152 | 26,379 | 26,736 | 27,922 | 28,300 | 28,086 | 29,877 | 31,645 | 32,475 | 34,975 | 36,797 | 39,874 | 42,337 | 40,274 | 44,562 | 49,232 | 54,136 | — | ||
| points ahead of the metro · higher is better | #2 of 329 cities with data · 1st of 13 in its peer group with data · 2023 | +8.1 | +1.3 | -2.8 | -2.8 | +0.5 | +2.4 | +0.1 | -1.5 | +4.7 | +3.7 | +0.8 | +5.1 | +4.0 | +6.7 | +5.0 | +4.5 | +9.4 | +3.4 | +7.7 | — | |
| people · size, not ranked | — | — | — | — | — | — | 25,619 | 28,878 | 26,420 | 28,268 | 29,913 | 28,548 | 29,446 | 29,915 | 26,565 | — | 36,388 | 40,024 | 41,876 | 42,592 | ||
| % of workforce · lower is better | #130 of 340 cities · 7th of 14 in its peer group | — | — | — | — | — | — | 10.7% | 5.2% | 7.1% | 8.5% | 4.5% | 5.1% | 6.8% | 3.8% | 3.6% | — | 7.4% | 5.5% | 2.9% | 4.4% | |
| % of promises funded · not ranked: 38 cities report | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| surplus as % of revenue · higher is better | #90 of 314 cities with data · 2nd of 14 in its peer group | 17% | 19% | 9% | 17% | 19% | 14% | 20% | 15% | -2% | 3% | 6% | 4% | 41% | 21% | 26% | 40% | 46% | 26% | 34% | 31% | |
| dollars per resident · lower is better | #16 of 314 cities with data · 1st of 14 in its peer group | $705 | $650 | $658 | $725 | $983 | $1,107 | $1,010 | $903 | $896 | $759 | $642 | $520 | $564 | $840 | $788 | $624 | $423 | $395 | $345 | $370 |
Click a row for its source and its rank in every year. 1st is best whichever way the measure points. A rank is out of all 340 cities, or out of its peer group of 14; where some had no value that year it says “with data” and counts only those. An em dash is a year the source does not hold for Lakewood. A greyed homicide figure is a year the FBI holds as a transition year for this department. What each row is, and is not, is on the main page, with a link to every source in Sources.