Photo: FightingRaven531 · Public domainJobs, income and commuting in Brandon, FL
About one in ten work in Brandon; the top destination outside it is Tampa (29%, 11 miles). For jobs and income Brandon is better than 61% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (B+). At 28 minutes each way, commutes from Brandon run about the Florida average.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Brandon
Brandon trades workers with the towns around it
Brandon has about as many jobs (51,552) as working residents (53,522), but they are mostly different people: 47,601 residents leave for work each day while 45,631 people come in. Only 11% of the jobs in Brandon are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Brandon draws workers from far and wide
The 51,552 jobs in Brandon are filled from a wide area. Brandon’s own residents hold 11% and the ten next-biggest home towns 28%; the other 61% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
29% of Brandon works in Tampa
15,522 working residents, 29%, have their main job in Tampa, 11 miles away. That’s 3 times as many as work in Brandon itself. The commute map ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Brandon
Job access by car holds Brandon’s grade up (ahead of 86% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (11.4%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Brandon could be anywhere from B− to B+.
Who works in Brandon, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 47,601 residents head out to work, 5,921 work right here, and 45,631 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 (0.96 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.
Where the trip to work from Brandon ends
Where Brandon clocks in
29% 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.
Inside Brandon’s 51,552 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brandon, 2013 → 2023: 42,382 → 51,552. 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 Brandon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Brandon’s commute takes about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brandon workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 49,045 commuters (the 18% 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.
How far it is to work from Brandon
About 17% 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.
In Brandon, the car does most of the work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% 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 59,872 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 35% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 4% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 61% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.0% of Brandon households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Brandon’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Ranked on jobs and income, Brandon is 175th among 349 U.S. towns of 84,000 to 162,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Jordan UT | 87,614 | $134K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Carmel IN | 105,634 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 3 | Clay Township IN | 104,932 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Plantation FL | 99,183 | $93K | 10.0% | 4.0% | 10% | A− |
| 94 | Riverview FL | 113,697 | $100K | 7.5% | 4.3% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 101 | Miramar FL | 142,570 | $89K | 8.5% | 4.5% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 173 | Nampa ID | 120,384 | $74K | 11.5% | 3.1% | 29% | B |
| 174 | Concord NC | 114,598 | $87K | 9.6% | 5.5% | 19% | B |
| 175 | Brandon FL | 119,767 | $80K | 11.4% | 4.6% | 11% | B |
| 176 | Sunrise FL | 98,846 | $78K | 10.7% | 5.4% | 14% | B |
| 177 | Cedar Rapids IA | 137,935 | $70K | 10.8% | 3.6% | 57% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 349 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Brandon, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Bordering towns draw 12% of Brandon’s workers
The biggest share goes to East Lake-Orient Park (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Brandon workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon | – | B | B+ | 28 min | $79,685 |
| Mango | under 2% | C+ | B+ | 33 min | $52,524 |
| Palm River-Clair Mel | 2% | B− | B+ | 31 min | $71,787 |
| Valrico | under 2% | A− | C | 32 min | $104,839 |
| Riverview | 2% | B+ | B− | 35 min | $100,438 |
| Seffner | under 2% | B+ | B | 25 min | $93,333 |
| East Lake-Orient Park | 8% | C | A | 27 min | $56,573 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Brandon’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 Brandon: questions
What is the median household income in Brandon?
$79,685 (±$4,450) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brandon?
11.4%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brandon?
28 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brandon work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tampa (29%, 11 mi), East Lake-Orient Park (8%, 6 mi), St. Petersburg (2%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brandon walkable?
Brandon is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brandon without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 4% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brandon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brandon
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.