Wakefield is a medium-sized town located in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of 27,069 people and five associated neighborhoods, Wakefield is the 73rd largest community in Massachusetts. Housing costs in Wakefield are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in Massachusetts.Wakefield is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 87.94% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Wakefield is a town of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Wakefield who work in management occupations (17.18%), business and financial occupations (9.71%), and sales jobs (9.53%). Also of interest is that Wakefield has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 20.35% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. In addition, Wakefield is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates". Urban sophisticates are people who are both educated and wealthy, and thus tend to be older, richer, and more established than young professionals. "Urban sophisticates" is not just about being educated and well-off financially: it is a point of view and state of mind, one that you might call 'urbaneness'. But such people can and do regularly live in small towns, suburbs and rural areas, as well as in big cities. They read, support the arts and high-end shops, and love travel. Because of many things, Wakefield is a great place for families with children to consider. First of all, many other families with children live here, making Wakefield a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families, as well as find family-oriented services and community. The town’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic values. With regard to real estate, Wakefield has a high rate of owner-occupied single family homes, which tends to reflect stability in the local community. Finally, Wakefield’s overall crime rate is lower than average for the country. One downside of living in Wakefield is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Wakefield, the average commute to work is 31.98 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the town, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative. Although the majority of commuting trips in the town are by private automobile, Wakefield is somewhat unusual for a town of its size for having a substantial number of people who use public transportation. For a lot of people, the subway helps to get to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the Wakefield area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.If knowledge is power, Wakefield is a pretty powerful place. 56.87% of the adults in Wakefield have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns. The per capita income in Wakefield in 2022 was $64,988, which is upper middle income relative to Massachusetts, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $259,952 for a family of four. The people who call Wakefield home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Wakefield residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Wakefield include Irish, Italian, English, German, and Polish. The most common language spoken in Wakefield is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Italian.
