West Ocala Historic District · Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY 2.5A job hub: Ocala has 2.8 jobs per working resident, and 58,398 people come in to work
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.8 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 31.0 in Miami. There are 69,128 jobs in Ocala; 24,263 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Ocala are C− for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Ocala
Ocala is where the jobs are
Ocala has 69,128 jobs, 2.9 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 117,000 people are in town, 63% more than the 72,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Ocala are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 28 across Florida. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Florida worker. Time on the road ↓
Ocala draws workers from far and wide
The 69,128 jobs in Ocala are filled from a wide area. Ocala’s own residents hold 16% and the ten next-biggest home towns 18%; the other 66% 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 Ocala’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ocala is better than 24% of U.S. towns, #544 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car holds Ocala’s grade up (ahead of 67% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (21.1%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ocala could be anywhere from C− to C+.
How many people are in Ocala by day
On a workday 13,533 residents head out to work and 10,730 work right here.
About 117,000 people are in Ocala on a workday afternoon, 63% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Getting to work from Ocala takes about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ocala workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 24,676 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.
The daily trip into Ocala
Where Ocala clocks in
3% of workers
2% of workers
2% 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 Ocala’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ocala, 2013 → 2023: 55,695 → 69,128. 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 Ocala’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Ocala commutes less than 8 miles
About 31% 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.
Ocala is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ocala is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #244 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.5% 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 27,977 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 68% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 16% 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). 8.9% of Ocala households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Ocala’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ocala next to U.S. towns of 50,000 to 97,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 70 | Weston FL | 69,588 | $140K | 6.1% | 3.9% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 99 | Horizon West FL | 67,416 | $127K | 7.3% | 2.9% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 173 | Palm Beach Gardens FL | 63,883 | $107K | 7.2% | 3.9% | 17% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 582 | Joplin MO | 53,930 | $52K | 16.9% | 5.3% | 50% | C |
| 583 | Kokomo IN | 59,999 | $55K | 17.1% | 6.2% | 44% | C− |
| 584 | Ocala FL | 71,753 | $56K | 21.1% | 5.9% | 44% | C− |
| 585 | Fort Smith AR | 90,855 | $55K | 18.3% | 6.5% | 61% | C− |
| 586 | Kissimmee FL | 85,591 | $54K | 20.4% | 7.5% | 8% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 628 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Ocala, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Next door to Ocala
The biggest share goes to Liberty Triangle (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ocala workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ocala | – | C− | A− | 19 min | $56,376 |
| Silver Springs | under 1% | C+ | B+ | 23 min | $32,074 |
| Liberty Triangle | 1% | B− | C | 29 min | $64,943 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ocala’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 Ocala: questions
What is the median household income in Ocala?
$56,376 (±$3,924) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ocala?
21.1%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ocala?
19 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ocala work?
44% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Gainesville (3%, 37 mi), Jacksonville (2%, 85 mi), Orlando (2%, 70 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ocala walkable?
Ocala is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ocala without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 16% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ocala, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ocala
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.