Household incomes in Crystal Lake are lower than in 89% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 2.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 3.7 in Lakeland. 26.3% of residents are in poverty, next to 12.6% for Florida as a whole. The two grades for Crystal Lake are C for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Crystal Lake: the gist
Stores, warehouses and trucking
72% of the jobs in Crystal Lake are in trade, transport and utilities, against 25% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Crystal Lake has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Crystal Lake went from 1,665 in 2013 to 2,724 in 2023, +64%. The jobs ↓
The jobs in Crystal Lake pay better than its residents’ jobs
67% of the jobs based in Crystal Lake pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 48% of the jobs Crystal Lake residents hold. 98% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Crystal Lake. The jobs ↓
Few Crystal Lake workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 16% across Florida. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Crystal Lake and Lakeland trade workers both ways
Lakeland is the top workplace for Crystal Lake residents (28%) and also where the most people who work in Crystal Lake come from (10% of its jobs). 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Crystal Lake’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Crystal Lake is better than 29% of U.S. towns, #511 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car holds Crystal Lake’s grade up (ahead of 72% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down. It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Crystal Lake could be anywhere from C− to B−.
67% of the jobs in Crystal Lake pay over $3,333 a month
2,724 jobs are based in Crystal Lake.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Crystal Lake, 2013 → 2023: 1,665 → 2,724. 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 Crystal Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 29 minutes to work from Crystal Lake
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Crystal Lake workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,426 commuters (the 2% 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.
28% of working residents work in Lakeland
Where Crystal Lake clocks in
28% of workers
6% of workers
5% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 2,170 residents head out to work, 43 work right here, and 2,681 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 (1.23 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Crystal Lake
About 20% 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.
Crystal Lake is easy on foot, hard by bus
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above 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 2,481 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 20% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 69% 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). 9.2% of Crystal Lake households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Crystal Lake’s commuters take a bus or train.
Crystal Lake is 2,692nd of 3,612 U.S. towns of 3,800 to 7,400 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Bay Hill FL | 4,512 | $128K | 0.7% | 1.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 139 | Vineyards FL | 3,849 | $131K | 2.5% | 1.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 187 | Neptune Beach FL | 7,020 | $119K | 3.1% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,690 | Moab UT | 5,206 | $62K | 15.9% | 2.9% | 60% | C |
| 2,691 | Hannibal NY | 4,510 | $74K | 16.0% | 5.2% | 9% | C |
| 2,692 | Crystal Lake FL | 5,451 | $49K | 26.3% | 4.1% | 2% | C |
| 2,693 | Crookston MN | 7,375 | $57K | 15.6% | 3.4% | 59% | C |
| 2,694 | Watertown NY | 5,364 | $70K | 7.5% | 11.0% | 11% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,612 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Crystal Lake, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
The towns next door employ 28% of Crystal Lake
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Crystal Lake workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crystal Lake | – | C | A | 29 min | $49,424 |
| Lakeland | 28% | B− | A | 23 min | $64,185 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Lakeland. Darker towns draw more of Crystal Lake’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 Crystal Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Crystal Lake?
$49,424 (±$7,032) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Crystal Lake?
26.3%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Crystal Lake?
29 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Crystal Lake work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lakeland (28%, 4 mi), Bartow (6%, 11 mi), Tampa (5%, 35 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Crystal Lake walkable?
Crystal Lake is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.0 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Crystal Lake without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 20% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Crystal Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Crystal Lake
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.