Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 3.0LaBelle has 1.8 jobs for every working resident: 3,510 people commute in to work
LaBelle has 3,884 jobs for 2,164 working residents. The two grades for LaBelle are C− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Measured by household income, LaBelle is behind 84% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from LaBelle, in brief
No single place dominates LaBelle’s commute
The biggest draw, Fort Myers, gets only 7% of working residents, and 62% work outside the top ten towns entirely. LaBelle residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
LaBelle is where the jobs are
LaBelle has 3,884 jobs, 1.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
LaBelle has added jobs fast
Jobs based in LaBelle went from 2,523 in 2013 to 3,884 in 2023, +54%. The jobs ↓
LaBelle workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 35 minutes each way, against 28 across Florida. Over a year that’s about 268 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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 ↓
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 LaBelle earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, LaBelle is better than 18% of U.S. towns, #582 of 638 in Florida. Unemployment holds LaBelle’s grade up (4.4%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($53,309, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, LaBelle could be anywhere from D− to B−.
Where LaBelle’s workforce comes from
Where LaBelle clocks in
7% 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.
How many people are in LaBelle by day
On a workday 1,790 residents head out to work and 374 work right here.
About 7,500 people are in LaBelle on a workday afternoon, 30% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What LaBelle’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in LaBelle, 2013 → 2023: 2,523 → 3,884. 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 LaBelle’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long LaBelle spends getting to work: about 35 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of LaBelle workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,372 commuters (the 10% 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.
Miles to work from LaBelle
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.
LaBelle is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, LaBelle is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns, #277 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below 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 2,637 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). 8.5% of LaBelle households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of LaBelle’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, LaBelle is 3,009th among 3,527 U.S. towns of 4,000 to 7,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Southwest Ranches FL | 7,773 | $161K | 3.8% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Bay Hill FL | 4,512 | $128K | 0.7% | 1.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 178 | Neptune Beach FL | 7,020 | $119K | 3.1% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,007 | Mount Morris NY | 4,419 | $57K | 13.4% | 6.2% | 11% | C− |
| 3,008 | Lake Township PA | 4,910 | $60K | 12.3% | 8.8% | 4% | C− |
| 3,009 | LaBelle FL | 5,754 | $53K | 17.2% | 4.4% | 17% | C− |
| 3,010 | Frostburg MD | 6,979 | $53K | 28.8% | 6.7% | 19% | C− |
| 3,011 | Georgetown Township IL | 7,100 | $57K | 19.4% | 5.4% | 9% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,527 | 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 LaBelle, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Around LaBelle: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Port LaBelle (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | LaBelle workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LaBelle | – | C− | B+ | 35 min | $53,309 |
| Port LaBelle | 1% | C | D | 35 min | $75,231 |
| Fort Denaud | under 2% | C− | C | 33 min | $56,042 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of LaBelle’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 LaBelle: questions
What is the median household income in LaBelle?
$53,309 (±$9,972) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in LaBelle?
17.2%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from LaBelle?
35 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in LaBelle work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Myers (7%, 24 mi), Clewiston (2%, 32 mi), Lehigh Acres (2%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is LaBelle walkable?
LaBelle is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 10.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around LaBelle without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from LaBelle, from the people who make the trip.
More of LaBelle
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.