Jobs and earnings in Matlacha, and the trip to work
A typical one-way commute lasts 22 minutes (Florida 28, U.S. 26). Only 2% work in Matlacha itself; outside it, Cape Coral draws the most (14%, 5 miles). There are 117 jobs in Matlacha for 177 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who leaves Matlacha for work, and who comes in
On a workday 173 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 113 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
0.66 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 2023, primary jobs.
Where people from Matlacha work
Where Matlacha clocks in
14% of workers
8% 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 kinds of work in Matlacha
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Matlacha, 2013 → 2023: 77 → 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 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Matlacha’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Matlacha’s commute takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Matlacha workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 263 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.
The distance from Matlacha to work
About 37% 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.
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 Matlacha: questions
What is the poverty rate in Matlacha?
9.5%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Matlacha?
22 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Matlacha work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cape Coral (14%, 5 mi), St. James City (12%, 6 mi), Fort Myers (8%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Matlacha without a car?
0% 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 Matlacha, from the people who make the trip.
More of Matlacha
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.