Moving to
Westwood Lakes.

All Westwood Lakes data Compare Westwood Lakes

10,553people live here $86,040median household incomeNear US average $2,472median rent per month▲ 75% above US $518,500median home value▲ 56% above US

Westwood Lakes is an unincorporated community in Miami-Dade County, FL. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in Westwood Lakes

Westwood Lakes is an unincorporated community in Florida with county unemployment below the national average and schools with class sizes near the national average. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Westwood Lakes deals with rent well above the national average, home prices well above the national average, commute times longer than most cities, and air quality that falls short of national benchmarks.

The good

Low unemployment in the county
Average class sizes

The not so good

Rent well above the national average
High home prices
Above-average commute times
Air quality concerns
Shrinking population
High rent burden for renters

How Westwood Lakes compares

Median household income

Westwood Lakes$86,040

Florida avg$74,568

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Westwood Lakes$2,472

Florida avg$1,669

US$1,413

Median home value

Westwood Lakes$518,500

Florida avg$359,000

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Westwood Lakes

Based on Westwood Lakes's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$4,944

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $98,880 a year
86% of Westwood Lakes renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$103,700

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $51,850
Homes cost 6.0× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▲ 75% above US

$2,472/mo median rent

Rent is expensive here, at $2,472 a month median and well above the national average. This is the kind of city where housing costs deserve serious budgeting before committing to a move. Home prices are steep, with a median around $518,500. Renting first to get a feel for the city before buying is often the more practical route.

Median home value $518,500 · 86% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

2.7% county unemployment

Unemployment in Miami-Dade County is 2.7%, well below the national average of 4.3%. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Miami-Dade County (county-wide)

Safety

336 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Westwood Lakes doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Miami-Dade County Police Department jurisdiction as a whole, which runs close to the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 1810/100k · Policed by Miami-Dade County Police Department (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting around▲ 18% above US

31 min average commute

Traffic is a real factor here. The 30.7 minute average means plenty of commuters are pushing 45 to 60 minutes on a bad day. Proximity to work matters more here than it might elsewhere. 8 in 10 workers drive to work; 12% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

76%

Work from home

12%

Carpool

7.9%

Public transit

2.0%

Other

2.0%

Walk

0.1%

Climate

Summers are hot and humid, with highs regularly hitting 91°F, and winters are mild, with lows rarely dropping below 60°F. It's a wet climate overall.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▼ 27% below US

26% bachelor's degree or higher

College degree attainment runs below average at 26%. That tends to reflect a more trade and working-class economy, which can be great or limiting depending on the industry.

Schools

5 public schools inside the boundary

There are 5 public schools inside the boundary and 2 private schools. The student-to-teacher ratio is 17:1, close to the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Biscayne National Park (19 miles away). There are 3 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Westwood Lakes's strongest point is county unemployment below the national average; the main tradeoffs are rent well above the national average and home prices well above the national average. A year of median rent ($2,472/mo) equals 34% of the median household income here, more than the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit job seekers (county-wide unemployment is low). It may be a harder fit for renters on a tight budget.

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