GatewayFL
A town of 11,176.
Is Gateway a good place to live?
Gateway grades C overall, 357th of 634 graded towns in Florida, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Residents are healthier than 87% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and the median household earns $107K. On the other side, FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 88% of U.S. communities, with hurricanes at the top. The typical home is worth about $454K, 6 years of the Cape Coral metro’s $76K median household income.
What makes Gateway stand out
Where Gateway beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Gateway has grown 24% from 2010 to 2020
8,401 counted in 2010 and 10,376 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
How Gateway grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Florida), ordered by how far Gateway is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Gateway: who provides what
Gateway is unincorporated, so Lee County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 17, 2025.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Gateway.
Gateway has more 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns and has less tooth loss than most of Florida.
Gateway’s grade for health is an A
Its widest gap with Florida is tooth loss: 7.2% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 12.7% statewide.
32% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Gateway, where Florida’s towns sit at 37% and U.S. towns at 36%. 28% of adults have obesity in Gateway. Gateway beats the Florida average on 17 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 1.
| Gateway | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 37% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 32% | 35% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 20% | 19% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Gateway | FL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 7.2% | 12.7% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 9.9% | 15.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.6% | 9.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Gateway’s public schools trail 64% of Florida districts
Its public schools are run by the Lee school district. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Gateway Charter School, with 3,192 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gateway Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 839 | B |
| Gateway Charter SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 3,192 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within FL on state tests and graduation
Gateway faces a very high natural-hazard risk, led by hurricanes
One flood insurance claim has been paid in Gateway since 2018.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
With 0.7 jobs for every working resident, most of Gateway’s workers commute out
Most working residents leave Gateway for work: only 5% work in town. 3.6% of residents live below the poverty line in Gateway, below both Florida’s towns (11%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Gateway’s average trip to work is 31 minutes.
| Gateway | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 3.6% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $107,000 | $73,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Gateway has set aside 0.8% of its land for conservation
2.3 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves.
| Gateway | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.8% | 3% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Town Center at Timber Creek | 0.6 mi | 10 |
| 2. Sherman Soccer Complex | — | 14 |
| 3. Gateway Fun Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Mild winters and hot summers in Gateway
The Immokalee weather station, 21 miles away, records that about 123 days a year reach 90°, more than in 98% of U.S. towns. January nights average 52.2°, milder than in 99% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 92.1°.
Gateway has warm winters and hot summers, with plenty of rain. The January low in Gateway is 52°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Gateway | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 52°F | 51°F | 22°F |
| July high | 92°F | 91°F | 85°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Gateway’s grade for cost of living is a D
85% of Gateway households own their home.
| Gateway | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,886 a month | $1,647 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 85% | 72% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Hertz Arena and 12 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Gateway. Close and well known come first.
10 mi Stadium & arenaHertz Arena
34 mi National PreserveBig Cypress National Preserve2.3M visitors a year
9 mi MuseumEdison and Ford Winter Estates
11 mi State parkKoreshan State Historic Site13 mi State parkMound Key Archeological State Park
32 mi State parkCayo Costa State ParkPhoto credits
Hertz Arena: Tthaas, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Big Cypress National Preserve: Gzzz, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Edison and Ford Winter Estates: Rolf Müller (User:Rolfmueller), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Koreshan State Historic Site: Ebyabe, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cayo Costa State Park: https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrea_pauline/, CC BY-SA 2.0
Everything we know about Gateway
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Gateway
About 6 of every 100 Gateway residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Florida.
95% of working residents leave Gateway for work
Where Gateway’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Gateway
CDP in Florida, United States
Gateway is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lee County, Florida, United States. The population was 10,376 at the 2020 census, up from 8,401 at the 2010 United States census. It is part of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The community is located north of Southwest Florida International Airport.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 6.1 sq mi
- Elevation
- 23 ft
- Area code
- 239
Gateway’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Gateway.
| Town | FL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gateway | #357 | C | D | — | C+ | A |
| Fort Myers | #570 | D | D− | C− | C+ | C+ |
Gateway reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Gateway with a neighbor →
Questions about Gateway
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Gateway, FL a good place to live?
Gateway grades C overall, better than 30% of U.S. towns and #357 of 634 in Florida. It grades A for health and C+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Gateway, FL expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $454,000, 21% above the Florida typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.