Jobs & Economy in Lakewood
Lakewood's economy runs on a real, distinctive federal-government employment anchor -- the Denver Federal Center, with 26 agencies and roughly 8,000 employees on one site -- alongside strong local healthcare employment via St. Anthony Hospital, though a locally cited 7.2% unemployment figure conflicts sharply with Jefferson County's own BLS-reported 3.4% rate.
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Learn moreThe Denver Federal Center: a real, distinctive employment anchor
The Denver Federal Center, located in Lakewood, houses 26 different federal agencies and roughly 8,000 employees on one site -- cited as the largest concentration of federal agencies outside Washington, D.C. Buildings include the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Land Management, and the General Services Administration. This is a genuine, distinctive employment anchor unique among the Denver-metro suburbs built in this dataset's current wave -- neither Aurora nor Thornton has a comparable concentration of federal jobs.
Healthcare and education round out major local employment
St. Anthony Hospital (see healthcare) is a major local employer in its own right, and the Jefferson County R-1 School District employs 3,350 people in the Lakewood region specifically. Together with the Federal Center, these three sectors -- federal government, healthcare, and education -- form Lakewood's real institutional employment base.
A real, disclosed unemployment-rate discrepancy
One aggregator cited a locally "above average" unemployment rate of 7.20% for Lakewood specifically -- a figure that conflicts sharply with Jefferson County's own BLS-reported unemployment rate of 3.4% as of May 2026 (via FRED). This 7.2% citation is flagged here as a likely stale or methodologically different reading rather than treated as authoritative; the county's own BLS figure is the more reliable data point, consistent with the broader Denver metro's tight labor market documented elsewhere in this dataset's Colorado build.
Lakewood's average cited local salary runs above the national average
The city is cited as attracting more than 75,000 jobs overall, with an average local salary of $73,967 -- 6.85% above the national average, likely shaped in part by the Federal Center's concentration of standardized, often competitive federal pay scales.
Key takeaways
- The Denver Federal Center (26 agencies, ~8,000 employees) is a real, distinctive employment anchor unique among the Denver-metro suburbs in this build wave.
- St. Anthony Hospital and the Jefferson County R-1 School District (3,350 employees in the Lakewood region) round out a real institutional employment base alongside the Federal Center.
- A locally cited 7.2% unemployment rate conflicts sharply with Jefferson County's own BLS-reported 3.4% rate (May 2026) -- flagged as likely stale or methodologically inconsistent rather than authoritative.
- Lakewood's average cited local salary ($73,967) runs 6.85% above the national average, likely shaped in part by the Federal Center's competitive federal pay scales.
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