With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Forest City works elsewhere
Only 2% work in Forest City; the top destination outside it is Orlando (20%, 15 miles). 2,828 jobs are based in Forest City, and 6,879 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Forest City are B+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Forest City’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Forest City is better than 72% of U.S. towns, #159 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 89% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (9.5%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Forest City could be anywhere from B− to A.
The daily commute in and out of Forest City
On a workday 6,753 residents head out to work, 126 work right here, and 2,702 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in Forest City on a workday afternoon, 26% 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.
Commuting out of Forest City: the destinations
Where Forest City clocks in
20% of workers
7% 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.
What Forest City’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Forest City, 2013 → 2023: 2,525 → 2,828. 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 Forest City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Forest City: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Forest City workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,167 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.
How far Forest City’s workers travel
About 18% 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.
Getting around Forest City: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Forest City is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns, #320 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% 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 8,350 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 52% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 4% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 49% 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). 2.2% of Forest City households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Forest City’s commuters take a bus or train.
900th of 2,109: where Forest City ranks among U.S. towns of 11,000 to 21,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 80 | Pinecrest FL | 18,635 | $206K | 4.3% | 3.0% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 103 | Lake Butler FL | 17,125 | $183K | 3.7% | 2.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 135 | Palm Valley FL | 19,796 | $117K | 4.2% | 1.2% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 898 | Oak Park CA | 13,757 | $163K | 4.2% | 7.0% | 6% | B+ |
| 899 | Destin FL | 14,046 | $89K | 7.4% | 2.1% | 27% | B+ |
| 900 | Forest City FL | 15,312 | $86K | 9.5% | 3.9% | 2% | B+ |
| 901 | Channahon IL | 14,530 | $119K | 5.9% | 7.4% | 6% | B+ |
| 902 | Liberty Township IN | 11,151 | $97K | 9.2% | 3.8% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,109 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Forest City, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Around Forest City: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Altamonte Springs (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Forest City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest City | – | B+ | B+ | 27 min | $85,606 |
| Altamonte Springs | 7% | B− | A− | 26 min | $64,070 |
| Wekiwa Springs | under 2% | A | B | 25 min | $116,596 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Forest City’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 Forest City: questions
What is the median household income in Forest City?
$85,606 (±$6,010) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Forest City?
9.5%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Forest City?
27 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Forest City work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Orlando (20%, 15 mi), Altamonte Springs (7%, 3 mi), Maitland (5%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Forest City walkable?
Forest City is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 10.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Forest City without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 4% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Forest City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Forest City
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.