Photo: Skye Marthaler · CC BY-SA 4.0Fewer people are out of work in Niceville (1.1%) than in 94% of U.S. towns
About one in seven stay in Niceville for work; outside it, Fort Walton Beach is the main destination (13%, 11 miles). Niceville grades B+ for jobs and income and B for walkability. Measured by household income, Niceville is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Niceville apart
Niceville trades workers with the towns around it
Niceville has about as many jobs (6,125) as working residents (5,817), but they are mostly different people: 4,990 residents leave for work each day while 5,298 people come in. Only 14% of the jobs in Niceville are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Niceville draws workers from far and wide
The 6,125 jobs in Niceville are filled from a wide area. Niceville’s own residents hold 14% and the ten next-biggest home towns 28%; the other 58% 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.
What’s behind Niceville’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Niceville is better than 72% of U.S. towns, #160 of 638 in Florida. Unemployment holds Niceville’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 38% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Niceville could be anywhere from B to A−.
Who works in Niceville, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 4,990 residents head out to work, 827 work right here, and 5,298 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 (1.05 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.
The places Niceville commutes to
Where Niceville clocks in
13% 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.
What Niceville’s employers do
6,125 jobs are based in Niceville.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Niceville, 2013 → 2023: 4,932 → 6,125. 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 Niceville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Niceville’s commute takes about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Niceville workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,921 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Niceville
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.
Driving is how Niceville gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Niceville is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns, #386 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.9% 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 7,709 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.3% of Niceville households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Niceville’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Niceville is 780th of 1,822 U.S. towns of 13,000 to 24,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Pinecrest FL | 18,635 | $206K | 4.3% | 3.0% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 84 | Lake Butler FL | 17,125 | $183K | 3.7% | 2.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 110 | Palm Valley FL | 19,796 | $117K | 4.2% | 1.2% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 778 | Clemmons NC | 22,808 | $88K | 6.5% | 4.5% | 8% | B+ |
| 779 | Fillmore CA | 16,937 | $93K | 7.0% | 3.4% | 10% | B+ |
| 780 | Niceville FL | 17,948 | $102K | 10.3% | 1.1% | 14% | B+ |
| 781 | South Euclid OH | 21,248 | $81K | 6.5% | 4.9% | 3% | B+ |
| 782 | Steamboat Springs CO | 13,557 | $105K | 4.7% | 3.0% | 60% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,822 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Niceville, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
The towns around Niceville
The biggest share goes to Valparaiso (4%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Niceville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niceville | – | B+ | B | 25 min | $102,409 |
| Valparaiso | 4% | B+ | A | 17 min | $90,110 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Niceville’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 Niceville: questions
What is the median household income in Niceville?
$102,409 (±$8,992) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Niceville?
10.3%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Niceville?
25 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Niceville work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Walton Beach (13%, 11 mi), Destin (6%, 9 mi), Miramar Beach (5%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Niceville walkable?
Niceville is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Niceville without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Niceville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Niceville
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.