Photo: Gamweb · CC BY-SA 3.0New Smyrna Beach has higher unemployment (5.2%) than 64% of U.S. towns
Commuters spend 29 minutes getting to work on average, next to 28 for Florida and 26 for the U.S. Jobs and income earn New Smyrna Beach B−; getting around on foot earns it B. About one in five work in New Smyrna Beach itself; outside it, Daytona Beach draws the most (11%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in New Smyrna Beach: the figures worth knowing
New Smyrna Beach trades workers with the towns around it
New Smyrna Beach has about as many jobs (11,613) as working residents (11,445), but they are mostly different people: 9,164 residents leave for work each day while 9,332 people come in. Only 20% of the jobs in New Smyrna Beach are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
New Smyrna Beach has added jobs fast
Jobs based in New Smyrna Beach went from 7,771 in 2014 to 11,613 in 2024, +49%. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Where New Smyrna Beach’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, New Smyrna Beach is better than 50% of U.S. towns, #342 of 638 in Florida. Household income holds New Smyrna Beach’s grade up ($83,865, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, New Smyrna Beach could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
Who leaves New Smyrna Beach for work, and who comes in
On a workday 9,164 residents head out to work, 2,281 work right here, and 9,332 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.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.01 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Inside New Smyrna Beach’s 11,613 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in New Smyrna Beach, 2014 → 2024: 7,771 → 11,613. 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 New Smyrna Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that employ New Smyrna Beach’s residents
Where New Smyrna Beach clocks in
11% of workers
6% 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.
A commute of about 29 minutes in New Smyrna Beach
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of New Smyrna Beach workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,913 commuters (the 21% 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 New Smyrna Beach
About 27% 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 New Smyrna Beach, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, New Smyrna Beach is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns, #349 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% 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 13,885 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 39% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 3% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 66% 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). 5.9% of New Smyrna Beach households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of New Smyrna Beach’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, New Smyrna Beach is 908th among 1,315 U.S. towns of 23,000 to 45,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 84 | Parkland FL | 39,186 | $199K | 4.3% | 3.1% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 88 | Jacksonville Beach FL | 23,615 | $121K | 4.8% | 1.8% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 100 | Palmetto Bay FL | 24,886 | $142K | 5.8% | 2.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 906 | Monroe NC | 42,644 | $73K | 13.3% | 4.6% | 22% | B− |
| 907 | Juneau AK | 31,609 | $102K | 8.9% | 4.0% | — | B− |
| 908 | New Smyrna Beach FL | 33,182 | $84K | 8.2% | 5.2% | 20% | B− |
| 909 | Gloucester MA | 30,627 | $84K | 9.6% | 6.5% | 33% | B− |
| 910 | Leavenworth KS | 37,012 | $73K | 11.7% | 4.8% | 32% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,315 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 25% | 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 New Smyrna Beach, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
New Smyrna Beach and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Port Orange (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | New Smyrna Beach workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Smyrna Beach | – | B− | B | 29 min | $83,865 |
| Glencoe | under 2% | C+ | C− | 30 min | $47,212 |
| Ponce Inlet | under 2% | A− | A− | 28 min | $102,200 |
| Edgewater | 4% | C+ | B+ | 26 min | $60,977 |
| Port Orange | 5% | B− | B+ | 26 min | $74,426 |
| Samsula-Spruce Creek | under 2% | A | C+ | 39 min | $97,805 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of New Smyrna Beach’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 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 New Smyrna Beach: questions
What is the median household income in New Smyrna Beach?
$83,865 (±$5,575) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in New Smyrna Beach?
8.2%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from New Smyrna Beach?
29 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in New Smyrna Beach work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Daytona Beach (11%, 14 mi), DeLand (6%, 20 mi), Port Orange (5%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is New Smyrna Beach walkable?
New Smyrna Beach is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 9.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around New Smyrna Beach without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 3% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from New Smyrna Beach, from the people who make the trip.
More of New Smyrna Beach
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.