Photo: GreaterPonce665 · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Gifford are among the lowest of any U.S. town
Measured by household income, Gifford is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. 42.0% of residents are in poverty, against 12.6% across Florida. For jobs and income Gifford is better than 14% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (B).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Gifford apart
Commutes from Gifford are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 28 across Florida. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical Florida worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Gifford workers earn over $40,000 a year
39% of Gifford’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 19% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% 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 ↓
Gifford empties out on a workday
About 3,100 people are in Gifford on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than the 4,700 who live here: 2,400 head out to work and 840 come in. Day and night ↓
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 drives the Jobs & income grade in Gifford
Job access by car holds Gifford’s grade up (ahead of 53% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Gifford could be anywhere from D to C.
A commute of about 17 minutes in Gifford
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gifford workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,724 commuters (the 6% 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.
Gifford works in goods: 29% of its jobs
917 jobs are based in Gifford.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gifford, 2013 → 2023: 943 → 917. 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 Gifford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Gifford commutes less than 17 miles
About 35% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Gifford
On a workday 2,423 residents head out to work, 76 work right here, and 841 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,100 people are in Gifford on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.
0.37 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.
17% of working residents work in Vero Beach
Where Gifford clocks in
17% of workers
4% 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.
In Gifford, most people drive to work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.6% across Florida, on an EPA index of 6.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,837 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). 10.5% of Gifford households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of Gifford’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 3,300 to 6,300, Gifford ranks 3,340th of 3,798 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 49 | Bay Hill FL | 4,512 | $128K | 0.7% | 1.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 80 | Geneva FL | 3,441 | $133K | 0.6% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Windermere FL | 3,344 | $178K | 1.3% | 2.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,338 | Drummer Township IL | 3,914 | $51K | 12.6% | 9.5% | 33% | D |
| 3,339 | Wilna NY | 5,492 | $60K | 19.2% | 5.2% | 16% | D |
| 3,340 | Gifford FL | 4,668 | $33K | 42.0% | 5.0% | 3% | D |
| 3,341 | Holloman AFB NM | 4,433 | $52K | 10.2% | 11.9% | 4% | D |
| 3,342 | Pittsfield IL | 4,041 | $55K | 17.9% | 4.9% | 32% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,798 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Gifford, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Bordering towns draw 17% of Gifford’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Gifford workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gifford | – | D | B | 17 min | $33,175 |
| Vero Beach | 17% | C+ | A | 18 min | $69,758 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Vero Beach. Darker towns draw more of Gifford’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Gifford: questions
What is the median household income in Gifford?
$33,175 (±$7,135) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gifford?
42.0%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gifford?
17 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Gifford work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Vero Beach (17%, 3 mi), Fort Pierce (4%, 18 mi), Vero Beach South (4%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Gifford walkable?
Gifford is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Gifford without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gifford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gifford
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.