Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Orlando draws 328,932 commuters a day, with 2.7 jobs for every working resident
Orlando grades B− for jobs and income and A for walkability. Employers in Orlando report 379,711 jobs, and 142,990 of its residents work somewhere. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 8.0 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 31.0 in Miami.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Orlando, in a few figures
Orlando is where the jobs are
Orlando has 379,711 jobs, 2.7 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 571,000 people are in town, 71% more than the 334,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Orlando draws workers from far and wide
The 379,711 jobs in Orlando are filled from a wide area. Orlando’s own residents hold 13% and the ten next-biggest home towns 16%; the other 71% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Orlando has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Orlando went from 273,886 in 2013 to 379,711 in 2023, +39%. The jobs ↓
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.
Why Orlando gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Orlando is better than 50% of U.S. towns, #339 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car holds Orlando’s grade up (ahead of 91% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (14.7%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Orlando could be anywhere from B− to B.
A workday in Orlando: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 92,211 residents head out to work and 50,779 work right here.
About 571,000 people are in Orlando on a workday afternoon, 71% 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.
Where Orlando’s workforce comes from
Where Orlando clocks in
4% 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.
The kinds of work in Orlando
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Orlando, 2013 → 2023: 273,886 → 379,711. 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 Orlando’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Orlando: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Orlando workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 146,072 commuters (the 16% 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 Orlando
About 17% 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.
Orlando is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Orlando is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns, #120 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above 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 174,318 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 78% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 24% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 8.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 91% 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). 7.4% of Orlando households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Orlando’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Among U.S. towns of 234,000 to 451,000, Orlando ranks 38th of 61 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 2 | Oyster Bay NY | 301,115 | $160K | 3.9% | 4.6% | 19% | A |
| 3 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Cape Coral FL | 236,264 | $78K | 10.7% | 3.8% | 23% | B |
| 31 | St. Petersburg FL | 264,033 | $75K | 12.5% | 4.7% | 32% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Tampa FL | 413,554 | $75K | 15.5% | 4.9% | 42% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Reno NV | 283,621 | $81K | 12.6% | 5.1% | 63% | B− |
| 37 | St. Paul MN | 306,684 | $73K | 15.6% | 5.4% | 28% | B− |
| 38 | Orlando FL | 333,888 | $72K | 14.7% | 5.2% | 36% | B− |
| 39 | Port St. Lucie FL | 268,062 | $81K | 9.5% | 6.0% | 17% | B− |
| 40 | North Las Vegas NV | 296,653 | $80K | 12.1% | 8.5% | 16% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Cleveland OH | 363,608 | $41K | 30.6% | 10.8% | 42% | C− |
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 Orlando, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Around Orlando: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Winter Park (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Orlando workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orlando | – | B− | A | 26 min | $72,336 |
| Fairview Shores | under 1% | B+ | A+ | 27 min | $62,414 |
| Holden Lakes | under 1% | B | A | 25 min | $70,809 |
| Azalea Park | under 1% | C+ | B | 30 min | $63,490 |
| Pine Hills | under 1% | C | A | 30 min | $58,673 |
| Winter Park | 2% | A− | A | 22 min | $105,724 |
| Taft | under 1% | B | B− | 25 min | $55,735 |
| Conway | under 1% | A− | B | 27 min | $87,405 |
| Oak Ridge | under 1% | C | A+ | 31 min | $54,685 |
| Doctor Phillips | under 1% | B− | B | 24 min | $103,950 |
| Lake Hart | under 1% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Lake Hart: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Orlando’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 Orlando: questions
What is the median household income in Orlando?
$72,336 (±$2,211) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Orlando?
14.7%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Orlando?
26 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Orlando work?
36% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lake Buena Vista (4%, 14 mi), Winter Park (2%, 9 mi), Maitland (2%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Orlando walkable?
Orlando is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.6 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Orlando without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 24% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Orlando, from the people who make the trip.
More of Orlando
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.