Wood Lake is a tiny village located in the state of Nebraska. With a population of 50 people and just one neighborhood, Wood Lake is the 213th largest community in Nebraska. Much of the housing stock in Wood Lake was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic villages in the country.
When you are in Wood Lake, you'll notice that it is more blue-collar than most other communities in America. 40.00% of Wood Lake’s employed work in blue-collar jobs, while America averages only 27.7% that do. Overall, Wood Lake is a village of farmers, fishers, or foresters, managers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Wood Lake who work in farm management occupations (40.00%), management occupations (40.00%), and community and social services (20.00%).
Another notable thing is that Wood Lake is an extremely popular vacation destination. A significant portion of the population is seasonal. During the vacation season, the village experiences a large influx of people who take up residence in second homes they own in the area. As the vacation season ends, the population drops again, leaving behind a substantially quieter and smaller village.
Wood Lake’s overall crime rate ranks among the lowest in the nation, making it a very safe place to live.
Residents will find that the village is relatively quiet. This is because it is not over-populated, and it has fewer college students, renters, and young children - all of whom can be noisy at times. So, if you're looking for a relatively peaceful place to live, Wood Lake is worth considering.
As is often the case in a small village, Wood Lake doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.
The overall education level of Wood Lake is somewhat higher than in the average US city of 21.84%: 25.00% of adults 25 and older in the village have at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Wood Lake in 2022 was $22,394, which is low income relative to Nebraska and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $89,576 for a family of four.
The people who call Wood Lake home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Wood Lake residents report their race to be White, followed by Native American. Important ancestries of people in Wood Lake include English, German, French, Irish, and Yugoslavian.
The most common language spoken in Wood Lake is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Italian.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
Unpopulated, and rural, the neighborhood is one of the least crowded neighborhoods in all of America. If you like open space, no traffic, and lots of room, this neighborhood may be just what you are looking for. According to NeighborhoodScout's leading research, this neighborhood is less densely populated than 99.6% of the neighborhoods in America.
Each year, fewer and fewer Americans make their living as farmers, foresters, or fishers. But the neighborhood truly stands out among U.S. neighborhoods. According to exclusive NeighborhoodScout analysis, this neighborhood has a greater proportion of farmers, foresters, or fishers than 99.5% of all American neighborhoods. This is truly a unique cultural characteristic of this neighborhood.
Whether walking, biking, riding, or driving, the length of one's commute is an important factor for one's quality of life. The neighborhood stands out for its commute length, according to NeighborhoodScout's analysis. Residents of the neighborhood have the pleasure of having one of the shortest commutes to work of any neighborhood in America. 70.6% of the residents have a commute time from home to work (one way) of less than fifteen minutes. This is a higher proportion of residents enjoying a short trip to work than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.6% of U.S. neighborhoods. Less time commuting means more time for other things in life.
More people in choose to walk to work each day (19.1%) than almost any neighborhood in America. If you are attracted to the idea of being able to walk to work, this neighborhood could be a good choice.
Most American households own a car or other vehicle. Many own two cars or perhaps three. In the United States, it is useful to have an automobile not only for commuting, but also for shopping and getting to other services one needs. But NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed that households in the neighborhood have a highly unusual car ownership. Residents of this neighborhood must really love automobiles. NeighborhoodScout's Analysis reveals that 38.3% of the households here have four, five, or more cars. That is more cars per household than in 97.6% of the neighborhoods in the nation.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Swedish and German ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 5.2% of this neighborhood's residents have Swedish ancestry and 33.3% have German ancestry.
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 Wood Lake are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 76.2% of U.S. neighborhoods. In addition, 9.2% 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 51.5% 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, 54.3% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 15.8% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in farming, forestry, or commercial fishing (14.2%), and 8.4% in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 99.1% of households.
Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.
In the neighborhood in Wood Lake, NE, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (33.3%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (17.7%), and residents who report Irish roots (8.7%), and some of the residents are also of Swedish ancestry (5.2%), along with some French ancestry residents (3.6%), among others.
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (70.6% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (41.1%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (22.1%) and 19.1% of residents also hop out the door and walk to work for their daily commute. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.