Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0More people are out of work in Delray Beach (5.8%) than in 72% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 31.0 in Miami. Delray Beach grades B− for jobs and income and A for walkability. About one in seven work in Delray Beach; the top destination outside it is Boca Raton (18%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Delray Beach in brief
Delray Beach draws workers from far and wide
The 35,721 jobs in Delray Beach are filled from a wide area. Delray Beach’s own residents hold 12% and the ten next-biggest home towns 25%; the other 63% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Delray Beach are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 28 across Florida. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Florida worker. 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.
Why Delray Beach gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Delray Beach is better than 54% of U.S. towns, #306 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car holds Delray Beach’s grade up (ahead of 89% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Delray Beach could be anywhere from B− to B+.
Where people from Delray Beach work
Where Delray Beach clocks in
18% of workers
6% 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.
From Delray Beach, about 23 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Delray Beach workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 27,185 commuters (the 19% 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.
Who works in Delray Beach, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 22,012 residents head out to work, 4,387 work right here, and 31,334 people come in from elsewhere.
About 79,000 people are in Delray Beach on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.35 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 work there is in Delray Beach: 35,721 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Delray Beach, 2013 → 2023: 27,633 → 35,721. 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 Delray Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Delray Beach
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 Delray Beach, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Delray Beach is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns, #68 of 638 in Florida. Both inputs place Delray Beach near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 33,388 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 89% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 42% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 42% 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). 7.3% of Delray Beach households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Delray Beach’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 49,000 to 94,000, Delray Beach ranks 411th of 634 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Weston FL | 69,588 | $140K | 6.1% | 3.9% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 105 | Horizon West FL | 67,416 | $127K | 7.3% | 2.9% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 132 | Coral Gables FL | 49,578 | $134K | 9.4% | 3.6% | 18% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 409 | Sheboygan WI | 49,376 | $63K | 12.3% | 2.7% | 38% | B− |
| 410 | Montebello CA | 60,693 | $80K | 12.1% | 7.1% | 7% | B− |
| 411 | Delray Beach FL | 69,809 | $82K | 13.0% | 5.8% | 17% | B− |
| 412 | Rancho Cordova CA | 87,554 | $90K | 12.2% | 7.3% | 15% | B− |
| 413 | Cicero IL | 81,858 | $71K | 14.6% | 5.0% | 9% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 634 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Delray Beach, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
24% of Delray Beach works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Delray Beach workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delray Beach | – | B− | A | 23 min | $82,041 |
| Gulf Stream | under 1% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Boca Raton | 18% | B+ | A | 21 min | $106,273 |
| Boynton Beach | 6% | B− | A− | 26 min | $70,074 |
| Highland Beach | under 1% | A+ | B− | 23 min | $145,485 |
Same-state neighbors only. Gulf Stream: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Boca Raton. Darker towns draw more of Delray Beach’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 Delray Beach: questions
What is the median household income in Delray Beach?
$82,041 (±$5,459) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Delray Beach?
13.0%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Delray Beach?
23 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Delray Beach work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boca Raton (18%, 6 mi), Boynton Beach (6%, 5 mi), West Palm Beach (3%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Delray Beach walkable?
Delray Beach is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.9 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Delray Beach without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 42% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Delray Beach, from the people who make the trip.
More of Delray Beach
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.