Desoto Lakes has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.4 for each
Jobs and income earn Desoto Lakes C+; getting around on foot earns it B+. Desoto Lakes has 453 jobs for 1,011 working residents. 0% of workers have no commute at all (Florida 16%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Desoto Lakes: the gist
The better-paid jobs are outside Desoto Lakes
57% of Desoto Lakes residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 27% of the jobs based in Desoto Lakes pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 98% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Few Desoto Lakes workers work from home
Only 0% of workers work from home, against 16% across Florida. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Most Desoto Lakes residents work close to home
66% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. 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.
The four measures behind Desoto Lakes’ grade
On income, poverty and job access, Desoto Lakes is better than 43% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Desoto Lakes’ grade up (ahead of 78% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (28.1%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (8.5%) is left out: Desoto Lakes’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Desoto Lakes could be anywhere from C to B+.
Jobs in Desoto Lakes: what the 453 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Desoto Lakes, 2013 → 2023: 36 → 453. 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 Desoto Lakes’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Desoto Lakes takes about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Desoto Lakes workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 756 commuters (the 0% 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 Desoto Lakes’ workers travel
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.
Who leaves Desoto Lakes for work, and who comes in
On a workday 995 residents head out to work, 16 work right here, and 437 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Desoto Lakes on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
22% of working residents work in Sarasota
Where Desoto Lakes clocks in
22% 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.
Few in Desoto Lakes walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Desoto Lakes is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.6% 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 756 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, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 72% 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). 3.9% of Desoto Lakes households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Desoto Lakes’ commuters take a bus or train.
Desoto Lakes next to U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300: 2,567th of 5,760 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 98 | Atlantis FL | 2,140 | $117K | 3.6% | 3.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 124 | Old Miakka FL | 1,818 | $137K | 2.0% | 0.0% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 129 | Lake Mary Jane FL | 1,792 | $146K | 0.0% | 3.1% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,565 | Columbia Township MI | 1,205 | $84K | 7.6% | 2.1% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,566 | Venice NY | 1,234 | $92K | 11.2% | 6.0% | 8% | C+ |
| 2,567 | Desoto Lakes FL | 1,735 | $76K | 28.1% | 8.5% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,568 | Robinhood MS | 1,298 | $70K | 14.1% | 5.1% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,569 | Watsontown PA | 2,188 | $60K | 11.9% | 3.6% | 5% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Desoto Lakes, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
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 Desoto Lakes: questions
What is the median household income in Desoto Lakes?
$76,417 (±$11,182) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Desoto Lakes?
28.1%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Desoto Lakes?
26 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Desoto Lakes work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sarasota (22%, 4 mi), Fruitville (4%, 4 mi), Lakewood Ranch (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Desoto Lakes walkable?
Desoto Lakes is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 11.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Desoto Lakes without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Desoto Lakes, from the people who make the trip.
More of Desoto Lakes
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.