GEOGRAPHY OF LAKEWOOD

Lakewood, New Jersey, is in northern Ocean County and is near the border of Monmouth County. The township borders Toms River to the south, Brick Township to the east, and Howell Township to the north.

The northern end of the Metedeconk River flows through the northern part of Lakewood. Lake Manetta and Lake Carasaljo are in the northwestern end of the township west of US Highway 9. Lake Shenandoah is to the east of the highway. Lake Wadill is in the southeastern part of the township near the Garden State Parkway and Kettle Creek. Much of the township is near sea level, with its highest point being at 150 feet above sea level.

CLIMATE OF LAKEWOOD

Lakewood's location near the Atlantic Ocean gives the township a moderate climate that doesn't get too hot or cold, although temperatures can become freezing in the winter. The high temperatures can range from the mid-80s in the summer to the lower-40s in the winter. The lows can go from the lower-60s in the summer to the mid-20s in the winter.

• Lakewood gets some form of precipitation about 100 days a year on average. It gets about 48 inches of rain a year, which is higher than the national average of 38 inches a year. But Lakewood also gets less snow on average, as it gets 22 inches a year versus the national average of 28 inches.
• DEMOGRAPHICS OF LAKEWOOD

Lakewood has one of the country's largest Orthodox Jewish communities, with nearly 60 percent of the township's population belonging to the faith. The township is home to the Beth Medrash Govoha, the world's largest Jewish educational school or yeshiva outside Israel. Nearly a quarter of the town's population has ancestry from Poland, Hungary, Russia, Germany, or Lithuania. About 5 percent of the residents in the city also speak the Yiddish language. Lakewood's Jewish heritage is strong, as the town lists the Tel Aviv suburb of Bnei Brak, Israel, as its sister city.

Lakewood's population is about 85 percent White and 6 percent Black. The town has a small Spanish-speaking population, with about 12 percent of residents speaking Spanish. About 40 percent of Lakewood's residents are under 18 years of age.

POPULATION OF LAKEWOOD

Like many other parts of New Jersey, Lakewood has seen an increase in its population over the years. Lakewood has a population of about 105,000 people, as of 2019 estimates. The population is nearly twice that of what it was in 1990 when there were 45,000 people living in Lakewood. The city's population history has shown its total doubling every twenty to thirty years on average. While Lakewood was incorporated as part of Ocean County in 1892, it did not reach 10,000 people until around 1950.

Lakewood is the largest community in New Jersey to be listed as a township. It is also the fifth-largest municipality in the state, coming behind Trenton, Jersey City, Paterson, and Elizabeth. It also has 10,000 more people than Toms River, the second-largest city in Ocean County.