Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Arcadia are lower than in 96% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 3% of workers, against 16% across Florida. Poverty touches 31.8% of residents, against 12.6% across Florida. Arcadia grades D for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Arcadia: the gist
No single place dominates Arcadia’s commute
The biggest draw, Port Charlotte, gets only 3% of working residents, and 66% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Arcadia residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Few Arcadia workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 16% across Florida. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Arcadia
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Arcadia is better than 7% of U.S. towns, #619 of 638 in Florida. Unemployment holds Arcadia’s grade up (5.7%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Arcadia could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Where Arcadia goes to work
Where Arcadia clocks in
2% of workers
2% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
How long Arcadia spends getting to work: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Arcadia workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,106 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across Florida: 83% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The commute from Arcadia, by distance
About 36% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Who commutes out of Arcadia, and who commutes in
On a workday 2,193 residents head out to work, 526 work right here, and 2,862 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.25 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What the 3,388 jobs in Arcadia are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Arcadia, 2013 → 2023: 3,319 → 3,388. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Arcadia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting around Arcadia: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Arcadia is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns, #278 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.6% across Florida.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,209 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 15.4% of Arcadia households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Arcadia’s commuters take a bus or train.
Arcadia and other U.S. towns of 5,600 to 10,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Southwest Ranches FL | 7,773 | $161K | 3.8% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 184 | Neptune Beach FL | 7,020 | $119K | 3.1% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 346 | Westlake FL | 9,042 | $132K | 3.2% | 2.8% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,937 | Fairfield IA | 9,220 | $51K | 20.7% | 11.8% | 50% | D |
| 2,938 | Polson MT | 5,653 | $53K | 17.5% | 7.9% | 43% | D |
| 2,939 | Arcadia FL | 8,046 | $40K | 31.8% | 5.7% | 19% | D |
| 2,940 | Benton Harbor MI | 8,803 | $31K | 40.1% | 21.6% | 7% | D |
| 2,941 | Idabel OK | 6,934 | $43K | 25.1% | 5.4% | 31% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,049 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Arcadia, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Arcadia and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Southeast Arcadia (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Arcadia workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arcadia | – | D | B+ | 27 min | $39,677 |
| Southeast Arcadia | 2% | D | B− | 29 min | $60,169 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Arcadia’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Arcadia: questions
What is the median household income in Arcadia?
$39,677 (±$4,990) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Arcadia?
31.8%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Arcadia?
27 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Arcadia work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Port Charlotte (3%, 22 mi), Fort Myers (2%, 42 mi), Venice (2%, 35 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Arcadia walkable?
Arcadia is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Arcadia without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Arcadia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Arcadia
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.