Lakeville is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,602 at the 2010 census.

For geographic and demographic information on the village of North Lakeville, please see the article North Lakeville, Massachusetts.

History

Lakeville was settled in 1717 as a western parish of Middleborough. It was incorporated as a separate town in 1853. The town’s name comes from the system of lakes in the town, including Assawompset Pond, Great Quittacas Pond, Little Quittacas Pond, Pocksha Pond, and Long Pond. Long Pond is the source of the Acushnet River, and Assawompsett Pond is the source of the Nemasket River, which feeds the Taunton River. Ocean Spray is headquartered in Lakeville. Lakeville is also commonly referred to as “The Promised Land.”

Education

Since 1959, Lakeville has shared its school department with Freetown, creating the Freetown – Lakeville Regional School District. Lakeville operates several schools for its school aged population. Assawompsett Elementary School is operated jointly with Freetown for grades K-3. The George R. Austin Intermediate School is operated jointly with Freetown for grade 4 and 5. Freetown-Lakeville Middle School is operated jointly with Freetown for grades 6–8, and Apponequet Regional High School is jointly operated with Freetown for grades 9-12. Apponequet’s colors are navy, white, and red, their nickname is the “Lakers,” and their mascot was a Wampanoag brave, but after a sensitivity issue among the faculty at Apponequet, it was changed to an “A”. The school, like several others in the region, used to use the spear logo made famous by Florida State University and the Washington Redskins for its athletics marks, but this was deemed to promote violence, so it was replaced with the “A”. Their teams compete in the South Coast Conference, and their chief rival is Old Rochester Regional High School in Mattapoisett.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 9,821 people, 3,292 households, and 2,659 families residing in the town. The population density was 328.4 people per square mile (126.8/km²). There were 3,662 housing units at an average density of 122.5 per square mile (47.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.29% White, 0.31% African American, 0.14% Native American, 0.59% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.50% from other races, and 1.16% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.06% of the population.

The most common ancestries in Lakeville are: Irish (23.2%), English (20.1%), French (12.9%), Italian (11.9%), Portuguese (11.4%) and French Canadian (10.1%). 3.8% of Lakeville’s residents are foreign-born.

There were 3,292 households, out of which 40.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.7% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.2% were non-families. 14.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.91 and the average family size was 3.24.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 27.4% under the age of 18, 5.7% from 18 to 24, 31.1% from 25 to 44, 24.4% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.1 males. Of the population 25 years and older in Lakeville, 87.2% have a high school degree or higher. 32.7% of this demographic group has a bachelor’s degree or higher. 11% of Lakeville residents 25 years or older have a graduate or professional degree. The average person’s commute to work is 33.8 minutes and 2.6% of the town’s population above the age of 25 is unemployed.

The median income for a household in the town was $70,495, and the median income for a family was $75,838. Males had a median income of $51,321 versus $31,374 for females. The per capita income for the town was $26,046. About 1.9% of families and 3.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.8% of those under age 18 and 8.5% of those age 65 or over.

Lakeville’s median household income and the medium house value are above the Massachusetts state average.