Rufus P. Jordan House · Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Longboat Key earn more than those in 96% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Longboat Key are A for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Poverty touches 5.1% of residents, against 12.6% across Florida. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.9 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 31.0 in Miami.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Longboat Key in brief
A lot of Longboat Key works from home
46% of Longboat Key workers work from home, against 16% across Florida. Time on the road ↓
Longboat Key’s workforce skews older
45% of Longboat Key’s working residents are 55 or older. That’s about two in five. The jobs ↓
Longboat Key is where the jobs are
Longboat Key has 2,488 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Nearly all the work in Longboat Key is services
89% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 1% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Longboat Key
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Longboat Key is better than 88% of U.S. towns, #46 of 638 in Florida. Household income holds Longboat Key’s grade up ($158,030, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 44% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Longboat Key could be anywhere from A− to A.
From Longboat Key, 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 Longboat Key workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 923 commuters (the 46% 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.
In Longboat Key, services account for most jobs
2,488 jobs are based in Longboat Key.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Longboat Key, 2013 → 2023: 1,978 → 2,488. 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 Longboat Key’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Longboat Key for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,424 residents head out to work, 221 work right here, and 2,267 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,200 people are in Longboat Key on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Longboat Key
About 36% 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.
The daily trip into Longboat Key
Where Longboat Key clocks in
9% of workers
6% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Longboat Key
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Longboat Key is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns, #14 of 638 in Florida. Both inputs place Longboat Key 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 1,696 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, 62% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 56% 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). 1.1% of Longboat Key households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of Longboat Key’s commuters take a bus or train.
Longboat Key is 473rd of 3,042 U.S. towns of 5,200 to 9,900 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Southwest Ranches FL | 7,773 | $161K | 3.8% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 176 | Neptune Beach FL | 7,020 | $119K | 3.1% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 330 | Westlake FL | 9,042 | $132K | 3.2% | 2.8% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 471 | Grant Township KS | 5,743 | $95K | 3.3% | 3.1% | 2% | A |
| 472 | Hamilton MA | 7,674 | $130K | 7.8% | 3.0% | 5% | A |
| 473 | Longboat Key FL | 7,359 | $158K | 5.1% | 1.8% | 13% | A |
| 474 | Shorewood MN | 7,620 | $171K | 5.2% | 5.0% | 3% | A |
| 475 | Midway UT | 6,011 | $157K | 1.7% | 2.6% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,042 | 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 Longboat Key, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Around Longboat Key: the bordering towns
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Longboat Key workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longboat Key | – | A | A+ | 24 min | $158,030 |
| Bradenton Beach | under 2% | — | — | 46 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Bradenton Beach: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Longboat Key’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 Longboat Key: questions
What is the median household income in Longboat Key?
$158,030 (±$10,332) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Longboat Key?
5.1%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Longboat Key?
24 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 46% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Longboat Key work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sarasota (9%, 8 mi), Tampa (6%, 41 mi), Bradenton (3%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Longboat Key walkable?
Longboat Key is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 12.3 out of 20, and 20% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Longboat Key without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 62% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Longboat Key, from the people who make the trip.
More of Longboat Key
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.