Photo: U.S. Air Force photo by Samuel King Jr. · Public domainHousehold incomes in Eglin AFB top those of 61% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 2.7% (Florida 12.6%). Eglin AFB grades B+ for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Hardly any work in Eglin AFB; the top destination outside it is Fort Walton Beach (10%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Eglin AFB stands out on work
The jobs in Eglin AFB pay better than its residents’ jobs
77% of the jobs based in Eglin AFB pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 39% of the jobs Eglin AFB residents hold. 99% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Eglin AFB. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Eglin AFB are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 28 across Florida. That’s about 107 hours a year less on the road than the typical Florida worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. 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; with 505 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Eglin AFB’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Eglin AFB is better than 72% of U.S. towns, #156 of 638 in Florida. The poverty rate holds Eglin AFB’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 39% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (2.7%) is left out: Eglin AFB’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, Eglin AFB could be anywhere from B to A−.
Most jobs in Eglin AFB are in services
381 jobs are based in Eglin AFB.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Eglin AFB, 2013 → 2023: 308 → 381. 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 Eglin AFB’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 14 minutes in Eglin AFB
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Eglin AFB workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,273 commuters (the 10% 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.
The commute from Eglin AFB, by distance
About 34% 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.
A workday in Eglin AFB: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 503 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 379 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 (0.75 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.
Out of Eglin AFB to work: where people go
Where Eglin AFB clocks in
10% 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.
Getting around Eglin AFB: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Eglin AFB is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns, #458 of 638 in Florida. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.6% across Florida, on an EPA index of 5.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,420 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.6% of Eglin AFB households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Eglin AFB’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Eglin AFB is 1,214th of 5,131 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,800
| # | 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 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 106 | Atlantis FL | 2,140 | $117K | 3.6% | 3.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,212 | Walla Walla East WA | 2,099 | $90K | 3.5% | 0.0% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,213 | Englishtown NJ | 2,407 | $91K | 10.9% | 3.7% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,214 | Eglin AFB FL | 2,778 | $84K | 2.7% | 2.7% | <1% | B+ |
| 1,215 | Logan Township IL | 3,205 | $73K | 6.2% | 2.3% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,216 | Nahant MA | 3,331 | $113K | 8.9% | 5.9% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,131 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Eglin AFB, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Eglin AFB and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Eglin AFB workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eglin AFB | – | B+ | B− | 14 min | $84,167 |
| Lake Lorraine | under 3% | A− | B+ | 21 min | $104,105 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Eglin AFB’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 Eglin AFB: questions
What is the median household income in Eglin AFB?
$84,167 (±$14,667) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Eglin AFB?
2.7%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Eglin AFB?
14 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Eglin AFB work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Walton Beach (10%, 5 mi), Pensacola (7%, 38 mi), Destin (7%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Eglin AFB walkable?
Eglin AFB is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Eglin AFB without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Eglin AFB, from the people who make the trip.
More of Eglin AFB
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.