Photo: Skye Marthaler · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Freeport earn more than those in 70% of U.S. towns
Only 7% stay in Freeport for work; outside it, Miramar Beach is the main destination (9%, 15 miles). 7.4% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 12.6% for Florida as a whole. For jobs and income Freeport is better than 53% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (C+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Freeport
Jobs in Freeport have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Freeport went from 638 in 2013 to 2,169 in 2023, +240%. The jobs ↓
Freeport workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 37 minutes each way, against 28 across Florida. Over a year that’s about 284 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Freeport makes and builds things
40% of the jobs based in Freeport are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Freeport residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 13%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Inside Freeport’s Jobs & income grade
Household income holds Freeport’s grade up ($91,985, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 3% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Freeport could be anywhere from C− to A−.
A place that makes things: 40% of Freeport’s jobs are in goods
2,169 jobs are based in Freeport.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Freeport, 2013 → 2023: 638 → 2,169. 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 Freeport’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 37 minutes from Freeport
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Freeport workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,729 commuters (the 18% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 2,598 residents head out to work, 195 work right here, and 1,974 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 (0.78 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.
Where Freeport’s working residents head each day
Where Freeport clocks in
7% 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 Freeport’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.
Most of Freeport commutes by car
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.6% across Florida, on an EPA index of 5.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,309 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). 1.9% of Freeport households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Freeport’s commuters take a bus or train.
Freeport next to U.S. towns of 5,300 to 10,200: 1,667th of 3,071 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Southwest Ranches FL | 7,773 | $161K | 3.8% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 181 | Neptune Beach FL | 7,020 | $119K | 3.1% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 336 | Westlake FL | 9,042 | $132K | 3.2% | 2.8% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,665 | Absecon NJ | 9,209 | $74K | 7.9% | 5.6% | 5% | B− |
| 1,666 | St. Francis WI | 8,955 | $57K | 17.0% | 2.9% | 4% | B− |
| 1,667 | Freeport FL | 7,543 | $92K | 7.4% | 3.0% | 7% | B− |
| 1,668 | Social Circle GA | 5,537 | $89K | 6.7% | 6.6% | 9% | B− |
| 1,669 | Winterset IA | 5,520 | $68K | 10.3% | 3.0% | 27% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,071 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Freeport, 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 Freeport: questions
What is the median household income in Freeport?
$91,985 (±$14,489) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Freeport?
7.4%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Freeport?
37 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Freeport work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Miramar Beach (9%, 15 mi), DeFuniak Springs (7%, 14 mi), Destin (6%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Freeport walkable?
Freeport is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Freeport without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Freeport, from the people who make the trip.
More of Freeport
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.