Goulding’s household incomes are among the lowest in the country
Goulding grades D for jobs and income and A for walkability. Household incomes here are among the lowest in the country. 35.4% of residents live below the poverty line (Florida 12.6%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Goulding and work: the main findings
The jobs in Goulding pay better than its residents’ jobs
67% of the jobs based in Goulding pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 34% of the jobs Goulding residents hold. 99% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Goulding. The jobs ↓
Goulding is where the jobs are
Goulding has 2,548 jobs, 2.4 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 5,200 people are in town, 40% more than the 3,700 who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Goulding works one town over
39% of working residents work in a town that borders Goulding: Pensacola (29%), Brent (7%) and West Pensacola (3%). Next door ↓
Most Goulding residents work close to home
64% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Goulding
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Goulding is better than 11% of U.S. towns, #609 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car holds Goulding’s grade up (ahead of 76% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($29,368, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Goulding could be anywhere from D to C.
In Goulding, services account for most jobs
2,548 jobs are based in Goulding.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Goulding, 2013 → 2023: 2,755 → 2,548. 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 Goulding’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Goulding
On a workday 1,024 residents head out to work, 24 work right here, and 2,524 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,200 people are in Goulding on a workday afternoon, 40% more than live here.
2.4 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
How far Goulding’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.
Who travels to work in Goulding, and from where
Where Goulding clocks in
29% 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 long Goulding spends getting to work: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Goulding workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 823 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.
Goulding is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above the 3.6% across Florida.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 876 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 95% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 16.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 97% 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
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 21.7% of Goulding households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Goulding’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Goulding is 3,884th among 4,318 U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Bay Hill FL | 4,512 | $128K | 0.7% | 1.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | Geneva FL | 3,441 | $133K | 0.6% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 81 | Windermere FL | 3,344 | $178K | 1.3% | 2.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,882 | Gibson City IL | 3,371 | $43K | 14.3% | 8.9% | 34% | D |
| 3,883 | Castleton Township MI | 3,425 | $59K | 15.0% | 14.5% | 4% | D |
| 3,884 | Goulding FL | 3,734 | $29K | 35.4% | 11.1% | 2% | D |
| 3,885 | Rainbow Lakes Estates FL | 3,762 | $50K | 11.9% | 6.3% | 1% | D |
| 3,886 | St. Clair MO | 4,813 | $42K | 15.1% | 9.8% | 15% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,318 | 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 Goulding, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Next door is work for 39% of Goulding
The biggest share goes to Pensacola (29%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Goulding workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goulding | – | D | A | 25 min | $29,368 |
| Pensacola | 29% | C+ | A− | 22 min | $74,212 |
| West Pensacola | 3% | C− | A+ | 25 min | $40,511 |
| Brent | 7% | C− | A+ | 19 min | $49,167 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Goulding’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 Goulding: questions
What is the median household income in Goulding?
$29,368 (±$11,651) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Goulding?
35.4%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Goulding?
25 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Goulding work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pensacola (29%, 2 mi), Ferry Pass (10%, 6 mi), Brent (7%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Goulding walkable?
Goulding is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 15.1 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Goulding without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 22% of households have no car. 95% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Goulding, from the people who make the trip.
More of Goulding
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.