Odessa has higher unemployment (8.4%) than 90% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 26% of workers, against 16% across Florida. Jobs and income earn Odessa B+; getting around on foot earns it C+. Household incomes here are higher than in 87% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Odessa in brief
Jobs in Odessa have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Odessa went from 1,209 in 2013 to 2,428 in 2023, +101%. The jobs ↓
Odessa workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 28 across Florida. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
A lot of Odessa works from home
26% of Odessa workers work from home, against 16% across Florida. Time on the road ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Where Odessa’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Odessa is better than 73% of U.S. towns, #147 of 638 in Florida. The poverty rate holds Odessa’s grade up (3.9%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Odessa could be anywhere from B to A.
What the 2,428 jobs in Odessa are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Odessa, 2013 → 2023: 1,209 → 2,428. 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 Odessa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Odessa: about 36 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Odessa workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,936 commuters (the 26% 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.
Odessa by day and by night
On a workday 3,423 residents head out to work, 83 work right here, and 2,345 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,300 people are in Odessa on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.69 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.
15% of working residents work in Tampa
Where Odessa clocks in
15% 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.
The distance from Odessa to work
About 19% 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 Odessa gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Odessa is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns, #505 of 638 in Florida. Both inputs place Odessa 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 3,965 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 58% 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). 1.8% of Odessa households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Odessa’s commuters take a bus or train.
Odessa next to U.S. towns of 5,900 to 11,300: 1,019th of 2,947 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Southwest Ranches FL | 7,773 | $161K | 3.8% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 180 | Neptune Beach FL | 7,020 | $119K | 3.1% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 335 | Westlake FL | 9,042 | $132K | 3.2% | 2.8% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,017 | Souderton PA | 7,288 | $94K | 10.1% | 4.1% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,018 | Franklin Township OH | 6,347 | $64K | 23.0% | 4.2% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,019 | Odessa FL | 8,381 | $118K | 3.9% | 8.4% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,020 | Chillicothe IL | 6,033 | $66K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 16% | B+ |
| 1,021 | Noble OK | 7,748 | $82K | 10.8% | 1.2% | 10% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,947 | 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 Odessa, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Odessa and the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Odessa’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 Odessa: questions
What is the median household income in Odessa?
$117,806 (±$12,248) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Odessa?
3.9%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Odessa?
36 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 26% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Odessa work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tampa (15%, 16 mi), St. Petersburg (3%, 30 mi), Oldsmar (2%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Odessa walkable?
Odessa is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Odessa without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Odessa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Odessa
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.