Medford Lakes is a very small borough located in the state of New Jersey. With a population of 4,291 people and just one neighborhood, Medford Lakes is the 340th largest community in New Jersey.
Medford Lakes is a decidedly white-collar borough, with fully 88.39% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Medford Lakes is a borough of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Medford Lakes who work in management occupations (14.40%), teaching (12.54%), and sales jobs (11.31%).
Also of interest is that Medford Lakes has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 15.33% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. 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, Medford Lakes 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.
Medford Lakes is a good choice for families with children because of several factors. Many other families with children live here, making it a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families. The borough’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic success. Many people own their own single-family homes, providing areas for children to play and stability in the community. Finally, Medford Lakes’s overall crime rate is lower than average for the country.
One downside of living in Medford Lakes is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Medford Lakes, the average commute to work is 32.41 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average.
Do you like to read, write and learn? If you move to Medford Lakes, you'll likely find that many of your neighbors like to as well. Medford Lakes is one of the more educated communities in America, with a full 59.90% of its adults having a college degree or even advanced degree, compared to a national average across all communities of 21.84%.
The per capita income in Medford Lakes in 2022 was $61,788, which is upper middle income relative to New Jersey, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $247,152 for a family of four.
The people who call Medford Lakes home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Medford Lakes residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Medford Lakes include Irish, Italian, English, German, and Polish.
The most common language spoken in Medford Lakes is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Tagalog.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
Of note is NeighborhoodScout's research finding that the neighborhood has some of the lowest rates of children living in poverty of any neighborhood in the United States. In a nation where approximately 1 in 4 children are living in poverty, the community truly stands out from the rest in this regard.
In addition, think about the people you know personally. How many of them would purchase box seats to opening night at the symphony? How many of them regularly attend gallery openings, or are the first to reserve tickets to opening night at the ballet? If they're like most of us, they don't do any of these things. But if you're among an exclusive crowd of wealthy and refined patrons of the arts, then you'll feel right at home in the neighborhood: a neighborhood in which more "urban sophisticates" live than 98.7% of neighborhoods across the U.S. Here, your neighbors are defined as having urbane tastes in literature, music, live theatre and the arts. They are wealthy, educated, travel in style, and live a big city lifestyle whether or not they live in or near a big city. In addition to being an excellent choice for urban sophisticates, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for families with school-aged children, highly educated executives and active retirees.
The neighborhood has earned the amazing distinction of having one of the highest rates of detached, single-family homes of any neighborhood in the U.S. With 100.0% of the residential real estate here made up of free-standing single-family homes, there is a greater proportion of single-family homes here than in 98.8% of all neighborhoods in America.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Irish and Russian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 28.1% of this neighborhood's residents have Irish ancestry and 3.6% have Russian ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 27.9% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Italian at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.9% of the neighborhoods in America.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Medford Lakes are wealthy, making it among the 15% highest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 93.0% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 0.0% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 100.0% of America's neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 59.2% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 19.7% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (11.6%), and 9.5% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 98.3% of households. Some people also speak Italian (27.9%).
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in Medford Lakes, NJ, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (28.1%). There are also a number of people of Italian ancestry (16.1%), and residents who report English roots (12.4%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (10.8%), along with some Polish ancestry residents (7.8%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (25.7% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.
Here most residents (82.0%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.