Most of Gardner commutes out: there are 0.1 jobs for every working resident
Gardner has 20 jobs for 146 working residents. Hardly any stay in Gardner for work; outside it, Wauchula is the main destination (9%, 13 miles). 74% of workers work from home; Florida has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The workday shuffle in and out of Gardner
On a workday 145 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 19 people come in from elsewhere.
About 260 people are in Gardner on a workday afternoon, 33% 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.
Where Gardner’s working residents head each day
Where Gardner clocks in
5% of workers
2% 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.
Gardner is a services town
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gardner, 2013 → 2023: 35 → 20. 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 Gardner’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Gardner
of Gardner workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 27 commuters (the 74% 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 it is to work from Gardner
About 38% 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.
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 Gardner: questions
What is the poverty rate in Gardner?
42.5%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Gardner work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wauchula (9%, 13 mi), Sebring (5%, 22 mi), Arcadia (2%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Gardner without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gardner, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gardner
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.