Unemployment in Dover (1.5%) is lower than in 90% of U.S. towns
Only 2% stay in Dover for work; outside it, Tampa is the main destination (15%, 15 miles). For jobs and income Dover is better than 47% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (A−). Measured by household income, Dover is behind 88% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Dover: the figures worth knowing
Dover workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 35 minutes each way, against 28 across Florida. Over a year that’s about 268 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
A young workforce
30% of Dover’s working residents are 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Dover than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Dover fell from 553 in 2013 to 413 in 2023, −25%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
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 Dover’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Dover’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (23.5%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Dover could be anywhere from C to B.
Each way, about 35 minutes from Dover
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dover workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,276 commuters (the 14% 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.
Making and building: 30% of jobs based in Dover
413 jobs are based in Dover.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dover, 2013 → 2023: 553 → 413. 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 Dover’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Dover: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,301 residents head out to work, 20 work right here, and 393 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,100 people are in Dover on a workday afternoon, 30% fewer than live here.
0.31 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.
Commuting out of Dover: the destinations
Where Dover clocks in
15% of workers
10% 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.
How far Dover’s workers travel
About 21% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Dover
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 11.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.6% across Florida, on an EPA index of 6.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,486 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 17.8% of Dover households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Dover’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,771 U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,100, Dover comes 2,429th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 73 | Geneva FL | 3,441 | $133K | 0.6% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 75 | Windermere FL | 3,344 | $178K | 1.3% | 2.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 105 | Atlantis FL | 2,140 | $117K | 3.6% | 3.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,427 | Oswegatchie NY | 3,976 | $85K | 13.8% | 2.1% | 13% | B− |
| 2,428 | Neversink NY | 3,383 | $81K | 8.0% | 3.3% | 14% | B− |
| 2,429 | Dover FL | 3,009 | $50K | 23.5% | 1.5% | 2% | B− |
| 2,430 | Lafourche Crossing LA | 2,790 | $73K | 28.4% | 1.2% | 1% | B− |
| 2,431 | Wabasha MN | 2,599 | $65K | 10.2% | 1.7% | 41% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,771 | 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 Dover, 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 Dover: questions
What is the median household income in Dover?
$49,693 (±$8,734) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dover?
23.5%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dover?
35 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dover work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tampa (15%, 15 mi), Plant City (10%, 7 mi), Brandon (6%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Dover walkable?
Dover is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dover without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dover, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dover
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.