Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0For more than half of its working residents, Jacksonville Beach is a commute to Jacksonville
Household incomes here are higher than in 88% of U.S. towns. The two grades for Jacksonville Beach are A+ for jobs and income and A for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.1 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 2.1 in Jacksonville.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Jacksonville Beach in brief
A lot of Jacksonville Beach works from home
26% of Jacksonville Beach workers work from home, against 16% across Florida. Time on the road ↓
Jacksonville Beach has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Jacksonville Beach went from 11,285 in 2013 to 15,554 in 2023, +38%. The jobs ↓
Jacksonville Beach gains people on a workday
About 28,000 people are in Jacksonville Beach on a workday afternoon, 20% more than the 24,000 who live here: 14,000 come in to work and 9,400 head out. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How Jacksonville Beach earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Jacksonville Beach is better than 96% of U.S. towns, #12 of 638 in Florida. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Jacksonville Beach’s grade. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Jacksonville Beach could be anywhere from A to A+.
From Jacksonville Beach, about 24 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jacksonville Beach workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,943 commuters (the 26% 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.
Inside Jacksonville Beach’s 15,554 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jacksonville Beach, 2013 → 2023: 11,285 → 15,554. 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 Jacksonville Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Jacksonville Beach
On a workday 9,391 residents head out to work, 1,477 work right here, and 14,077 people come in from elsewhere.
About 28,000 people are in Jacksonville Beach on a workday afternoon, 20% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.43 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where the trip to work from Jacksonville Beach ends
Where Jacksonville Beach clocks in
55% 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 commute from Jacksonville Beach, by distance
About 17% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Jacksonville Beach
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Jacksonville Beach is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #84 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 5.3% 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 13,515 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 54% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 30% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 69% 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). 3.6% of Jacksonville Beach households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Jacksonville Beach’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 17,000 to 32,000, Jacksonville Beach ranks 104th of 1,577 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Pinecrest FL | 18,635 | $206K | 4.3% | 3.0% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Lake Butler FL | 17,125 | $183K | 3.7% | 2.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 86 | Palm Valley FL | 19,796 | $117K | 4.2% | 1.2% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 102 | Harrisburg NC | 20,742 | $148K | 3.7% | 3.0% | 5% | A+ |
| 103 | Vernon Township IN | 20,047 | $108K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| 104 | Jacksonville Beach FL | 23,615 | $121K | 4.8% | 1.8% | 14% | A+ |
| 105 | Cascade Township MI | 20,201 | $136K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 14% | A+ |
| 106 | Upper St. Clair Township PA | 20,466 | $163K | 2.5% | 3.5% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,577 | 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 Jacksonville Beach, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
60% of Jacksonville Beach works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Jacksonville (55%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Jacksonville Beach workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville Beach | – | A+ | A | 24 min | $120,698 |
| Jacksonville | 55% | B− | A− | 24 min | $69,872 |
| Neptune Beach | 1% | A+ | B | 22 min | $119,294 |
| Palm Valley | 4% | A+ | B+ | 24 min | $116,625 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Jacksonville Beach’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 Jacksonville Beach: questions
What is the median household income in Jacksonville Beach?
$120,698 (±$16,648) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jacksonville Beach?
4.8%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jacksonville Beach?
24 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 26% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jacksonville Beach work?
14% work in town.
Is Jacksonville Beach walkable?
Jacksonville Beach is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.6 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jacksonville Beach without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 30% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Jacksonville Beach, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jacksonville Beach
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.