Kelsey City City Hall · Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 3.0Lake Park has higher unemployment (7.9%) than 88% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Lake Park B−; getting around on foot earns it A. Only 5% work in Lake Park; the top destination outside it is West Palm Beach (14%, 5 miles). Commuters spend 21 minutes getting to work on average, next to 28 for Florida and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Lake Park apart on work
Commutes from Lake Park are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 28 across Florida. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Florida worker. Time on the road ↓
Lake Park draws workers from far and wide
The 5,285 jobs in Lake Park are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 37%; the other 59% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
Inside Lake Park’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lake Park is better than 45% of U.S. towns, #379 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car holds Lake Park’s grade up (ahead of 84% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lake Park could be anywhere from C to A.
Each way, about 21 minutes from Lake Park
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lake Park workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,721 commuters (the 12% 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.
Commuting out of Lake Park: the destinations
Where Lake Park clocks in
7% 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.
Lake Park fills up on a workday
On a workday 3,979 residents head out to work, 209 work right here, and 5,076 people come in from elsewhere.
About 10,000 people are in Lake Park on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.26 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.
31% of the jobs in Lake Park make or build things
5,285 jobs are based in Lake Park.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lake Park, 2013 → 2023: 4,516 → 5,285. 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 Lake Park’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Lake Park’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Lake Park
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lake Park is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns, #113 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.9% 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 4,229 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, 46% 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). 10.7% of Lake Park households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Lake Park’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Lake Park ranks: 1,824th of 2,855 U.S. towns of 6,400 to 12,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Southwest Ranches FL | 7,773 | $161K | 3.8% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 180 | Neptune Beach FL | 7,020 | $119K | 3.1% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 339 | Westlake FL | 9,042 | $132K | 3.2% | 2.8% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,822 | Etowah NC | 7,968 | $73K | 14.4% | 2.8% | 6% | B− |
| 1,823 | Greenbrier AR | 6,645 | $57K | 10.1% | 3.3% | 11% | B− |
| 1,824 | Lake Park FL | 9,125 | $71K | 10.8% | 7.9% | 5% | B− |
| 1,825 | Brentwood PA | 9,597 | $69K | 19.1% | 5.0% | 4% | C+ |
| 1,826 | Port Salerno FL | 11,184 | $67K | 7.1% | 6.5% | 4% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,855 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Park, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Bordering towns draw 20% of Lake Park’s workers
The biggest share goes to Palm Beach Gardens (10%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lake Park workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Park | – | B− | A | 21 min | $70,954 |
| Palm Beach Gardens | 10% | A− | B+ | 23 min | $106,947 |
| Riviera Beach | 7% | C | A | 25 min | $68,060 |
| North Palm Beach | 3% | A− | A− | 20 min | $90,049 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lake Park’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 Lake Park: questions
What is the median household income in Lake Park?
$70,954 (±$10,471) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lake Park?
10.8%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lake Park?
21 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lake Park work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are West Palm Beach (14%, 5 mi), Palm Beach Gardens (10%, 7 mi), Riviera Beach (7%, 1 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lake Park walkable?
Lake Park is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 15.6 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lake Park without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 46% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lake Park, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lake Park
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.