Photo: JonathanPuello · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Fort Pierce (9.2%) is higher than in 92% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income D: better than 13% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #604 of 638 in Florida.
Walkability B+: more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns · #291 of 638 in Florida.
Household incomes here are lower than in 91% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 27 minutes each way (Florida 28, U.S. 26). About one in four work in Fort Pierce; the top destination outside it is Port St. Lucie (8%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Fort Pierce, in brief
Fort Pierce is where the jobs are
Fort Pierce has 31,345 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
No single place dominates Fort Pierce’s commute
The biggest draw, Port St. Lucie, gets only 8% of working residents, and 54% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Fort Pierce residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% 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.
What’s behind Fort Pierce’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fort Pierce is better than 13% of U.S. towns, #604 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car holds Fort Pierce’s grade up (ahead of 66% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (26.2%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fort Pierce could be anywhere from D to C−.
Fort Pierce fills up on a workday
On a workday 15,008 residents head out to work, 4,762 work right here, and 26,583 people come in from elsewhere.
About 63,000 people are in Fort Pierce on a workday afternoon, 22% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Where Fort Pierce’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Fort Pierce clocks in
8% of workers
3% of workers
2% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Half of Fort Pierce commutes less than 17 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 36% 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.
What the 31,345 jobs in Fort Pierce are
31,345 jobs are based in Fort Pierce. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Fort Pierce’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fort Pierce, 2013 → 2023: 24,373 → 31,345. 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.
About 27 minutes each way, about the FL average
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fort Pierce workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 16,445 commuters (the 11% who work from home are left out). Across Florida: 83% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Most trips from Fort Pierce start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fort Pierce is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns, #291 of 638 in Florida. Both inputs place Fort Pierce 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 18,537 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). 11.1% of Fort Pierce households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Fort Pierce’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Fort Pierce compares with U.S. towns of 36,000 to 70,000
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Fort Pierce, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Oakton VA | 36,528 | $161K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Parkland FL | 39,186 | $199K | 4.3% | 3.1% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 126 | Weston FL | 69,588 | $140K | 6.1% | 3.9% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 162 | Horizon West FL | 67,416 | $127K | 7.3% | 2.9% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 842 | Los Banos CA | 49,614 | $68K | 17.4% | 8.9% | 21% | D |
| 843 | Decatur Township IL | 45,203 | $49K | 24.2% | 9.9% | 43% | D |
| 844 | Fort Pierce FL | 51,737 | $47K | 26.2% | 9.2% | 24% | D |
| 845 | El Centro CA | 44,382 | $53K | 21.6% | 9.9% | 34% | D |
| 846 | Warren OH | 38,328 | $38K | 31.9% | 9.4% | 18% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 862 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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.
Fort Pierce and the towns next door
Darker towns draw more of Fort Pierce’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fort Pierce workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Pierce | – | D | B+ | 27 min | $47,072 |
| Fort Pierce North | under 2% | C− | B+ | 21 min | $40,228 |
| Fort Pierce South | under 2% | D | B | 26 min | $50,503 |
| White City | under 2% | B+ | B− | 21 min | $117,720 |
| Indian River Estates | under 2% | C | C | 24 min | $64,063 |
| St. Lucie Village | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. St. Lucie Village: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Fort Pierce: questions
What is the median household income in Fort Pierce?
$47,072 (±$3,864) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fort Pierce?
26.2%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fort Pierce?
27 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fort Pierce work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Port St. Lucie (8%, 10 mi), Stuart (3%, 17 mi), Vero Beach (2%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fort Pierce walkable?
Fort Pierce is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fort Pierce without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fort Pierce, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fort Pierce
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.