City comparison
Lakewood, NJ is about 2,400 miles (3,900 km) from Tacoma, WA in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 3,000 miles, or about 50 hours (about 5 days at 10 h/day) behind the wheel at highway speeds.
Driving distance is a rough estimate (great-circle × 1.25); driving time assumes a 60 mph blended average. Real trips run 10–20% longer with stops.
A direct flight from Lakewood, NJ to Tacoma, WA takes about 4 h 51 min, covering roughly 2,400 miles in a straight line. Connecting itineraries with a layover typically add 1–3 hours.
Block-to-block estimate at ~500 mph cruise, including taxi, climb, and descent — what an airline would publish, not pure airborne time.
Lakewood, NJ is on Eastern Time and Tacoma, WA is on Pacific Time — a 3-hour difference. When it's noon in Lakewood, it's 9 a.m. in Tacoma, which puts Lakewood 3 hours ahead.
Standard-time offsets. Daylight saving applies in both cities for most of the year (exceptions: Hawaii and most of Arizona), and the gap between the two stays the same.
Tacoma has a population of 219,234, vs 68,555 in Lakewood — about 3.2× larger by population. By land area, Tacoma covers about 50 sq mi vs 7.1 sq mi for Lakewood.
Population from US Census ACS. Land area from the Census Gazetteer (city proper, excluding inland water).
Cost indices by category, with the US city average (100) marked.
Index: 100 = US city average. Lower is more affordable.
Side-by-side costs, salaries, and sub-category indices.
| Metric | Lakewood | Tacoma | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,619/mo | $1,489/mo | 8.7% higher in Lakewood |
| Median home value | $604,600 | $415,300 | 45.6% higher in Lakewood |
| Median household income | $54,826 | $79,085 | 44.2% higher in Tacoma |
| Groceries index | 107.2 | 103.0 | 4.1% higher in Lakewood |
| Utilities index | 121.4 | 92.5 | 31.3% higher in Lakewood |
| Transportation index | 103.3 | 108.1 | 4.6% higher in Tacoma |
| Healthcare index | 104.1 | 108.8 | 4.5% higher in Tacoma |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Lakewood, you'd need $100,065 in Tacoma to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Lakewood and Tacoma have nearly identical overall cost-of-living indices. Housing costs are roughly 3% higher in Tacoma than in Lakewood. If you earn $80,000 in Lakewood, you'd need about $80,052 in Tacoma to keep the same standard of living.