Morgan-Townsend House · Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Lake Kerr earn less than those in 95% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 23.3% (Florida 12.6%). Lake Kerr grades D− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Only 4% work in Lake Kerr; the top destination outside it is Ocala (17%, 26 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Lake Kerr
Lake Kerr workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 45 minutes each way, against 28 across Florida. Over a year that’s about 345 hours of commuting, 130 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
42% 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 ↓
Lake Kerr’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Lake Kerr is Ocala, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 17% of working residents (91) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 529 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Lake Kerr’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Lake Kerr is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Lake Kerr’s grade.
Unemployment (20.9%) is left out: Lake Kerr’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Lake Kerr could be anywhere from D− to D.
Getting to work from Lake Kerr takes about 45 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 14.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lake Kerr workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 316 commuters (the 17% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Lake Kerr
About 42% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In and out of Lake Kerr on a workday
On a workday 509 residents head out to work, 20 work right here, and 97 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Lake Kerr on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
0.22 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 2024, primary jobs.
The places Lake Kerr commutes to
Where Lake Kerr clocks in
17% of workers
5% of workers
3% 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.
What work there is in Lake Kerr: 117 jobs
117 jobs are based in Lake Kerr.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lake Kerr, 2014 → 2024: 182 → 117. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lake Kerr’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Lake Kerr is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lake Kerr is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.6% across Florida, on an EPA index of 6.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 381 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). 2.6% of Lake Kerr households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lake Kerr’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lake Kerr next to U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 98 | Atlantis FL | 2,140 | $117K | 3.6% | 3.9% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 124 | Old Miakka FL | 1,818 | $137K | 2.0% | 0.0% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 129 | Lake Mary Jane FL | 1,792 | $146K | 0.0% | 3.1% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,659 | Hillman Township MI | 2,151 | $43K | 24.4% | 3.7% | 20% | D− |
| 5,660 | Russell WI | 1,644 | $48K | 31.0% | 11.4% | 25% | D− |
| 5,661 | Lake Kerr FL | 1,697 | $42K | 23.3% | 20.9% | 4% | D− |
| 5,662 | Goodman MS | 1,219 | $15K | 59.0% | 19.5% | 1% | D− |
| 5,663 | Slater MO | 1,824 | $39K | 34.0% | 1.9% | 20% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 7% | 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 Lake Kerr, 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 2024, 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 Lake Kerr: questions
What is the median household income in Lake Kerr?
$42,411 (±$7,080) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lake Kerr?
23.3%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lake Kerr?
45 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lake Kerr work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ocala (17%, 26 mi), Gainesville (5%, 41 mi), Jacksonville (3%, 67 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Lake Kerr walkable?
Lake Kerr is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lake Kerr without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lake Kerr, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lake Kerr
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.