Beacon is a somewhat small city located in the state of New York. With a population of 14,290 people and five associated neighborhoods, Beacon is the 139th largest community in New York. Much of the housing stock in Beacon was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.

Housing costs in Beacon 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 New York.

Of important note, Beacon is also a city of artists. Beacon has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Beacon’s character.

Also of interest is that Beacon 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: 16.95% 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, Beacon 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.

One downside of living in Beacon is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Beacon, the average commute to work is 36.48 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the city, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative.

Even though Beacon is a smaller city, it has many people who hop on public transportation – mostly the train for their daily commute to work. Typically, these people are commuting to good jobs in the surrounding cities.

Beacon is one of the most well-educated cities in the nation. 45.18% of adults in Beacon have at least a bachelor's degree. Compare that to the average community in America, which has just 21.84% with a bachelor's degree or higher.

The per capita income in Beacon in 2018 was $48,985, which is upper middle income relative to New York, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $195,940 for a family of four. However, Beacon contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Beacon is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Beacon home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Beacon residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Beacon also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 20.14% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Beacon include Irish, Italian, German, English, and Portuguese.

The most common language spoken in Beacon is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and German/Yiddish.