Wakefield, Massachusetts Demographics
Population trends, housing costs, income, commuting, and health, all on one page.
Wakefield, MA Population Density Map and Area Scores
Area Score
Health, income and education, each graded from F to A+. Explore interactive maps for deeper analysis.
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A+
Health Top grade
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A+
Income Top grade
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A+
Education Top grade
Source: Map AI Methodology
Population
| Metric | Wakefield | Massachusetts Avg | U.S. Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 27,739 | 7,031,620 | 337,468,954 |
| Population density (per sq mi) | 3469.0 | 666.0 | 86.4 |
| Population growth (%/yr) | 0.64% | 0.53% | 0.59% |
| Median age | 43.2 | 39.0 | 37.3 |
| Households | 11,270 | 2,777,931 | 130,235,071 |
Population in Wakefield grew by 13.2% from 2009 to 2024, reaching 27,739 in 2024.
Population Growth 2009–2024
Race & Ethnicity
Age & Sex
The largest generation in Wakefield is Gen X, aged 45–60, at 22.8% of residents. That is 1.7 points above Massachusetts as a whole.
- Gen Z 13–28 4,603 16.6% -5.0 pts
- Millennials 29–44 6,131 22.1% +0.2 pts
- Gen X 45–60 6,326 22.8% +1.7 pts
- Boomers 61–79 5,112 18.4% +1.1 pts
Residents by birth cohort, from the 2025 age distribution. The right-hand figure is how far each cohort's share sits above or below Massachusetts, in percentage points. Children younger than Gen Z and the generations before the Boomers are counted in the population but not shown here, so these shares do not add up to 100%.
Male and female share
Women are 50.4% of the people living in Wakefield and men 49.6%.
- Women 50.4% Massachusetts 51.2%
- Men 49.6% Massachusetts 48.8%
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Economy
Wakefield has a the economy index of A+, which means it is exceptionally prosperous.
| Metric | Wakefield | Massachusetts Avg | U.S. Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $136,429 | $104,336 | $80,455 |
| Income growth (%/yr) | 5.18% | 4.91% | 4.80% |
| Unemployment rate | 4.4% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
The median household income in Wakefield is about 31% higher than in Massachusetts.
Housing
| Metric | Wakefield | Massachusetts Avg | U.S. Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median home price | $112,500 | $494,523 | $248,835 |
| Median rent | $1,957 | $1,761 | $1,407 |
| Homeownership rate | 70.7% | 62.5% | 65.2% |
The median home price in Wakefield is about 4.8 years' worth of rent — buying at the median price costs roughly as much as paying the median rent of $1,957 per month for that long.
Commute Time & Mobility
Commuters in Wakefield spend about 61 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 253 hours, about 10.6 full days, spent commuting.
| Metric | Wakefield | Massachusetts Avg | U.S. Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-way commute (min) | 30.4 | 25.6 | 22.4 |
| Round-trip commute (min) | 60.8 | 51.1 | 44.8 |
| Yearly time spent (hours) | 253 | 213 | 187 |
| Estimated yearly cost | $7,854 | $6,603 | $5,790 |
| Work from home | 24.6% | 18.6% | 15.0% |
| Highway traffic (vehicles/day) | 37,601 | 14,741 | 8,813 |
| Local road traffic (vehicles/day) | 2,682 | 2,164 | 1,355 |
The average commute time in Wakefield is 30 minutes, longer than the 26 minutes in Massachusetts.
Estimated yearly cost applies a single national wage rule of thumb (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics average hourly earnings), not a measurement of wages in this area. Traffic volume figures come from proprietary Ticon and TrafficZoom data.
Education & Households
Wakefield has a education index of A+, which means it is exceptionally educated.
| Metric | Wakefield | Massachusetts Avg | U.S. Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 55.1% | 42.7% | 31.6% |
| Average household size | 2.43 | 2.44 | 2.53 |
Health
Wakefield has a health index of A+, which means it is exceptionally healthy.
| Metric | Wakefield | Massachusetts Avg | U.S. Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy (years) | 80.4 | 80.5 | 78.3 |
| Self-rated poor health | 8.2% | 11.8% | 16.3% |
| Smokers | 10.3% | 13.9% | 19.0% |
Wakefield, MA Compared With Nearby Cities
Wakefield, MA is typical in size for this group, 27,739 residents against a local median of 27,188, so the measures below are close to a like for like comparison. Wakefield, MA's median home price, at $112,500, runs 90% below the $1,138,659 typical of the cities around it.
The cities themselves sit within $379,778 of each other on median home price, a tighter band than the gap between any of them and Wakefield, MA, which makes it a genuine outlier here rather than one end of a wide local spread. Wakefield, MA has the 5th highest median home price of the 5 areas compared here.
| Area | Population | Median household income | Median home price | Commute |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wakefield, MA | 27,739 | $136,429 #2/5 | $112,500 #5/5 | 30.4 min #4/5 |
| Stoneham, MA | 23,334 | $117,780 | $1,224,288 | 25.4 min |
| Melrose, MA | 29,648 | $133,280 | $870,192 | 32.9 min |
| Reading, MA | 25,603 | $163,864 | $1,249,970 | 28.1 min |
| Saugus, MA | 28,773 | $102,456 | $1,053,030 | 28.7 min |
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Wakefield, Massachusetts.
How many people live in Wakefield, Massachusetts?
About 27,739 people live in Wakefield, Massachusetts, in 11,270 households of 2.4 people on average. The median age is 43.2, so residents are older than the U.S. median of 37.3 by about 6 years.
How densely populated is Wakefield, Massachusetts?
Averaged over its land area, Wakefield, Massachusetts has 3,469 people per square mile, a density typical of a city. That is about 40 times the U.S. average of 86.
Is Wakefield, Massachusetts an affordable place to live?
The median home costs 0.8 times the median household income ($112,500 against $136,429), compared with 3.1 times nationally. That is within the traditional rule of thumb of about 3 times income. Median rent of $1,957 a month takes about 17% of the median household's income, below the 30% level at which HUD considers renters cost-burdened.
How common is a college degree in Wakefield, Massachusetts?
55.1% of adults in Wakefield, Massachusetts hold a bachelor's degree or higher (about 6 in 10), well above the U.S. share of 31.6%.
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