Households in Cocoa West earn less than those in 98% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 4% of workers; Florida has 16%. 34.1% of residents are in poverty; Florida has 12.6%. Cocoa West grades C− 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
Work in Cocoa West: the figures worth knowing
No single place dominates Cocoa West’s commute
The biggest draw, Cocoa, gets only 8% of working residents, and 51% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Cocoa West residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Few Cocoa West workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 16% across Florida. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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.
What’s behind Cocoa West’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cocoa West is better than 22% of U.S. towns, #562 of 638 in Florida. Unemployment holds Cocoa West’s grade up (3.5%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($34,126, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cocoa West could be anywhere from D to C+.
8% of working residents work in Cocoa
Where Cocoa West clocks in
8% of workers
7% of workers
7% 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.
About 25 minutes each way for Cocoa West’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cocoa West workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,890 commuters (the 4% 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 many people are in Cocoa West by day
On a workday 2,209 residents head out to work, 48 work right here, and 1,430 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,100 people are in Cocoa West on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.65 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The kinds of work in Cocoa West
1,478 jobs are based in Cocoa West.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cocoa West, 2013 → 2023: 1,180 → 1,478. 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 Cocoa West’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Cocoa West
About 24% 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.
Most trips from Cocoa West start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cocoa West is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns, #446 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.1% 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 2,996 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 77% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 11% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 78% 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). 6.4% of Cocoa West households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Cocoa West’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,494 U.S. towns of 4,100 to 8,000, Cocoa West comes 2,853rd on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Southwest Ranches FL | 7,773 | $161K | 3.8% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Bay Hill FL | 4,512 | $128K | 0.7% | 1.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 178 | Neptune Beach FL | 7,020 | $119K | 3.1% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,851 | Fairfield IL | 4,794 | $42K | 17.7% | 2.6% | 32% | C− |
| 2,852 | Luzerne Township PA | 5,433 | $58K | 16.8% | 4.7% | 5% | C− |
| 2,853 | Cocoa West FL | 5,923 | $34K | 34.1% | 3.5% | 2% | C− |
| 2,854 | Metropolis IL | 5,727 | $50K | 17.6% | 2.6% | 28% | C− |
| 2,855 | Monessen PA | 6,657 | $53K | 20.8% | 6.0% | 9% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,494 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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 Cocoa West, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
14% of Cocoa West works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Cocoa (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cocoa West workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cocoa West | – | C− | B− | 25 min | $34,126 |
| Cocoa | 8% | C | A | 26 min | $63,105 |
| Rockledge | 6% | B | B | 23 min | $84,255 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Cocoa West’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 Cocoa West: questions
What is the median household income in Cocoa West?
$34,126 (±$11,025) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cocoa West?
34.1%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cocoa West?
25 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cocoa West work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cocoa (8%, 1 mi), Palm Bay (7%, 29 mi), Melbourne (7%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cocoa West walkable?
Cocoa West is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 10.9 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cocoa West without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 11% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cocoa West, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cocoa West
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.