Living in Lake Wales, FL
Lake Wales is a small city of 16,785 people in Polk County, Florida. It's about 24 miles from Lakeland, FL and 40 miles from Orlando, FL, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 93°F and winter highs 75°F, with almost no snow. The typical home is valued around $239k and rent runs about $1k a month.
16,785people
$239kTypical home
$1,110/moRent
93° / 75°Summer / winter
0"Snow
293Sunny days
99Rain/snow days
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Size & setting
- Small city of 16,785
- Part of a metro area
- About 827 people per sq mi
- 40 mi to Orlando, FL
- 24 mi to Lakeland, FL
- Has its own stores and services
Money
- Typical home $239k (≈$1,509/mo)
- Median rent $1,110/mo
- Median household income $56k
- Property tax about 0.9% of value
- 6.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 93°F
- Winter highs around 75°F
- Steamy summers (dew point 74°F)
- 293 sunny days a year (109 totally clear)
- 72 cloudy days a year
- 17 of 90 winter days are gray
- 99 days a year with rain or snow
- Basically no snow
- Snow days are rare
- Rarely hits 100°F
- Rarely drops below 10°F
- Usually calm
Safety
- About average violent crime (311 per 100k)
- Low property crime (1,154 per 100k)
People
- Median age 43
- 26% of households have kids
- 27% are 65 or older
- 21% have a college degree
- Very diverse community
- 6% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 26 min
- 1% walk or take transit to work
- 26 mi to LAL airport
- 39 mi to MCO (major hub)
- 10 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 66% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1991
- 86% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Flat, open land
- Elevation 164 ft
- 49 mi to the ocean
- 16 mi to a big lake
- 10 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 6 mi to the nearest campground
- 72 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 332 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 33 bars within 25 mi
- 66 coffee shops within 25 mi
- No music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 17 museums within 25 mi
- 3 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 7 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the bottom 24% of Florida districts (reading)
- Grocery store in town
- 2 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 43 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- 7 mi to the nearest vet
- 3 mi to the nearest dog park
- 5 congregations per 10k people
- 14 mi to the nearest college
Politics
- Polk County: R+21 in 2024
- Florida: R+13 in 2024
Natural hazards
- High hurricane risk
- High tornado risk
- High wildfire risk
- Very low earthquake risk
- Very low flood risk
- Low drought risk
- Very low winter storm risk
- Low heat wave risk
- Very low volcano risk