Beacon is a medium-sized city located in the state of New York. With a population of 15,292 people and five associated neighborhoods, Beacon is the 139th largest community in New York. Much of the housing stock in Beacon was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.

Housing costs in Beacon are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in New York.

Of important note, Beacon is also a city of artists. Beacon has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Beacon’s character.

Also of interest is that Beacon has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

A relatively large number of people in Beacon telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 21.20% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

In addition, Beacon is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates". Urban sophisticates are people who are both educated and wealthy, and thus tend to be older, richer, and more established than young professionals. "Urban sophisticates" is not just about being educated and well-off financially: it is a point of view and state of mind, one that you might call 'urbaneness'. But such people can and do regularly live in small towns, suburbs and rural areas, as well as in big cities. They read, support the arts and high-end shops, and love travel.

One downside of living in Beacon, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 36.01 minutes every day commuting to work. However, local public transit is widely used. For those who would prefer to avoid driving entirely and leave their car at home, it may be an option to use the transit instead.

Even though Beacon is a smaller city, it has many people who hop on public transportation – mostly the train for their daily commute to work. Typically, these people are commuting to good jobs in the surrounding cities.

The citizens of Beacon are among the most well-educated in the nation: 48.92% of adults in Beacon have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree, whereas the average US city has 21.84% holding at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Beacon in 2022 was $58,996, which is upper middle income relative to New York, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $235,984 for a family of four. However, Beacon contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Beacon is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Beacon home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Beacon residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Beacon also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 20.24% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Beacon include Irish, Italian, German, English, and Polish.

The most common language spoken in Beacon is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and German/Yiddish.