Photo: Declan M Martin · Public domainHouseholds in Immokalee earn less than those in 90% of U.S. towns
5% of workers have no commute at all; Florida has 16%. 28.3% of residents live below the poverty line, against 12.6% across Florida. The two grades for Immokalee are D for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Immokalee, in brief
No single place dominates Immokalee’s commute
The biggest draw, Ave Maria, gets only 3% of working residents, and 66% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Immokalee residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Immokalee workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 28 across Florida. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Immokalee workers earn over $40,000 a year
44% of Immokalee’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 15% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
32% 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 ↓
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 Immokalee
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Immokalee is better than 14% of U.S. towns, #593 of 638 in Florida. Unemployment holds Immokalee’s grade up (4.3%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Immokalee could be anywhere from D to C.
Where Immokalee goes to work
Where Immokalee clocks in
3% of workers
3% 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.
The trip to work from Immokalee: about 36 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Immokalee workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,236 commuters (the 5% 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.
Jobs in Immokalee: what the 4,665 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Immokalee, 2013 → 2023: 5,648 → 4,665. 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 Immokalee’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Immokalee
About 32% 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 leaves Immokalee for work, and who comes in
On a workday 8,114 residents head out to work, 1,784 work right here, and 2,881 people come in from elsewhere.
About 21,000 people are in Immokalee on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
0.47 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.
For most of Immokalee, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Immokalee is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns, #530 of 638 in Florida. Both inputs place Immokalee near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 11,846 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 19.0% of Immokalee households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Immokalee’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Immokalee compares with U.S. towns of 18,000 to 36,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Pinecrest FL | 18,635 | $206K | 4.3% | 3.0% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Palm Valley FL | 19,796 | $117K | 4.2% | 1.2% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 111 | Jacksonville Beach FL | 23,615 | $121K | 4.8% | 1.8% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,581 | Jackson MI | 31,022 | $45K | 24.6% | 9.1% | 30% | D |
| 1,582 | West Memphis AR | 23,336 | $43K | 29.1% | 14.5% | 30% | D |
| 1,583 | Immokalee FL | 26,361 | $48K | 28.3% | 4.3% | 18% | D |
| 1,584 | Paris TX | 25,205 | $47K | 26.0% | 5.3% | 47% | D |
| 1,585 | Altamont OR | 19,927 | $59K | 16.9% | 7.4% | 17% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,645 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Immokalee, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
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 Immokalee: questions
What is the median household income in Immokalee?
$48,144 (±$4,971) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Immokalee?
28.3%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Immokalee?
36 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Immokalee work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ave Maria (3%, 7 mi), Fort Myers (3%, 29 mi), Naples (2%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Immokalee walkable?
Immokalee is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Immokalee without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 19% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Immokalee, from the people who make the trip.
More of Immokalee
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.