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Jobs & commute in Gateway

Gateway’s household incomes are higher than in 82% of U.S. towns

Jobs and income earn Gateway A−; getting around on foot earns it C. 3.6% of residents live below the poverty line; Florida has 12.6%. Home is the office for 23% of workers, next to 16% for Florida as a whole.

Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made

What stands out

Where Gateway stands out on work

Jobs & income grade

Where Gateway’s Jobs & income grade comes from

On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Gateway is better than 79% of U.S. towns, #109 of 638 in Florida. The poverty rate holds Gateway’s grade up; unemployment pulls it down (4.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.

Household income $107,484 (±$9,985) · FL $74,568 · U.S. $80,734Higher than 82% of U.S. towns
Poverty 3.6% · FL 12.6% · U.S. 12.5%Lower than 89% of U.S. towns
Unemployment 4.7% (±3.0) · FL 4.8% · U.S. 5.2%Lower than 43% of U.S. towns
Job access by car EPA, jobs within a 45-minute driveMore than 63% of U.S. towns
Florida towns we grade 638 towns#109 of 638
BA+

A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Gateway could be anywhere from B to A+.

How TownRatings grades jobs & income →

★ What stands out · Time on the road

About 31 minutes each way, longer than most of Florida

A year of commuting
236 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Gateway31 min
Florida28 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
23%

of Gateway workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.

About 2 in 10
How Gateway gets to work
87%Drive alone
9%Carpool
<1%Transit
<1%Walk
3%Other

Share of the 4,050 commuters (the 23% 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.

Day and night

Who commutes out of Gateway, and who commutes in

On a workday 4,770 residents head out to work, 258 work right here, and 3,216 people come in from elsewhere.

4,770live here, work elsewhere
258live and work here
3,216work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night11,000
Workday9,600
11,000live here− 4,800head out to work+ 3,200come in to work= 9,600on a workday

About 9,600 people are in Gateway on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.69jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.69 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.

The commute map

20% of working residents work in Fort Myers

Estero: 128 residents work here (3%)Fort Myers: 998 residents work here (20%)Bonita Springs: 172 residents work here (3%)Cape Coral: 181 residents work here (4%)Tampa: 64 residents work here (1%)Florida Gulf Coast University: 97 residents work here (2%)Cypress Lake: 59 residents work here (1%)San Carlos ParkVillas: 174 residents work here (3%)GatewayImmokaleeLehigh Acres: 118 residents work here (2%)North Fort MyersFort MyersCape CoralVillasBonita SpringsEsteroLehigh AcresGateway
1
Fort Myers5.8 mi away
20%998
2
Gateway (in town)right here
5%258
3
Cape Coral16 mi away
4%181
4
Villas7.6 mi away
3%174
5
Bonita Springs15.8 mi away
3%172
6
Estero11.1 mi away
3%128
7
Lehigh Acres7.1 mi away
2%118
9
Tampa105.8 mi away
1%64
10
Cypress Lake9.8 mi away
1%59
Everywhere elseother towns and states
55%2,779
The top trips

Where Gateway clocks in

Lines 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.

The jobs

65% of the jobs in Gateway pay over $3,333 a month

3,474 jobs are based in Gateway.

Jobs based in GatewayJobs Gateway residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms16%11%
Trade, transport & utilities7%19%
Services: health, schools, offices77%70%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less11%12%
$1,251–$3,333 a month24%23%
Over $3,333 a month65%65%

Who does it

29 or younger19%19%
30 to 5455%53%
55 and older26%28%
+18%

Jobs based in Gateway, 2013 → 2023: 2,954 → 3,474. 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 Gateway’s own residents hold wherever they work.

How far

Gateway’s commute, mile by mile

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miFort Myers: 20% · 5.8 miCape Coral: 4% · 16 miVillas: 3% · 7.6 miBonita Springs: 3% · 15.8 miEstero: 3% · 11.1 miLehigh Acres: 2% · 7.1 miFlorida Gulf Coast University: 2% · 8.2 miTampa: 1% · 105.8 miCypress Lake: 1% · 9.8 miFort Myers 20%Cape Coral 4%Villas 3%Bonita Springs 3%Estero 3%Gateway
GatewayTop destinations (size = commuters)
53%Under 10 mi2,676 residents
18%10–24 mi896 residents
6%25–50 mi312 residents
23%Over 50 mi1,140 residents

About 23% 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 · Walkability grade

In Gateway, the car does most of the work

On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Gateway is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns, #550 of 638 in Florida.

EPA walkability index 6.8 of 20 · typical FL town 9.0 · U.S. 6.9Higher than 48% of U.S. towns
Walk, bike or transit 0.8% of commuters · FL 3.6% · U.S. 7.1%Higher than 25% of U.S. towns
Florida towns we grade 638 towns#550 of 638
CC

A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,269 workers.

How TownRatings grades walkability →

Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 50% 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

Fort Myers4.1
Gateway0.5

Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.2% of Gateway households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Gateway’s commuters take a bus or train.

Towns its size

Gateway is 791st of 2,507 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000 on jobs and income

#TownPeopleHousehold incomePovertyUnemploymentWork in townGrade
1Des Peres MO9,102$224K2.0%0.5%5%A+
2Beverly Hills MI10,449$177K1.7%1.6%3%A+
3Ladue MO8,934$250K1.1%1.7%5%A+
…
235Key Biscayne FL14,815$182K5.5%2.8%12%A
…
301Asbury Lake FL14,458$101K2.2%0.9%2%A
…
322Westlake FL9,042$132K3.2%2.8%1%A
…
789Tyngsborough MA12,721$129K6.6%5.5%6%A−
790Montecito CA9,031$231K8.3%4.0%9%A−
791Gateway FL11,176$107K3.6%4.7%5%A−
792Mounds View MN12,786$90K12.0%2.8%4%A−
793Raymond NH11,050$105K6.7%3.0%8%A−
…
2,507Roma TX11,543$25K37.1%12.4%22%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 Gateway, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.

Next door

Gateway and its neighbors: 20% work next door

Jobs & commute next door

TownGateway workers thereJobs & incomeWalkabilityCommuteHousehold income
Gateway–A−C31 min$107,484
Fort Myers20%C+A−25 min$63,732

Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.

The biggest share goes to Fort Myers. Darker towns draw more of Gateway’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

How to read these numbers

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.

How these figures and grades are made →

Jobs and commuting in Gateway: questions

What is the median household income in Gateway?

$107,484 (±$9,985) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.

What is the poverty rate in Gateway?

3.6%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).

How long is the commute from Gateway?

31 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.

Where do people who live in Gateway work?

5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Myers (20%, 6 mi), Cape Coral (4%, 16 mi), Villas (3%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).

Is Gateway walkable?

Gateway is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.

Can you get around Gateway without a car?

<1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Gateway, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Gateway

Gateway home →

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.