Photo: Andyrkellergmail · CC BY-SA 4.0Palm Coast has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
About one in five work in Palm Coast; the top destination outside it is Jacksonville (9%, 61 miles). There are 14,826 jobs in Palm Coast; 35,031 of its residents have a job. For jobs and income Palm Coast is better than 38% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns (C+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Palm Coast
Palm Coast’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Palm Coast is Jacksonville, 61 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (3,118) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
39% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Palm Coast has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Palm Coast went from 10,585 in 2013 to 14,826 in 2023, +40%. 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.
The four measures behind Palm Coast’s grade
Household income holds Palm Coast’s grade up ($77,350, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 22% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Palm Coast could be anywhere from C to B−.
How far it is to work from Palm Coast
About 39% 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.
What Palm Coast’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Palm Coast, 2013 → 2023: 10,585 → 14,826. 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 Palm Coast’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Palm Coast on a workday
On a workday 28,977 residents head out to work, 6,054 work right here, and 8,772 people come in from elsewhere.
About 90,000 people are in Palm Coast on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer 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.
Out of Palm Coast to work: where people go
Where Palm Coast clocks in
9% of workers
8% of workers
7% 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.
From Palm Coast, about 27 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Palm Coast workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 32,926 commuters (the 17% 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 commute in Palm Coast is mostly behind the wheel
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 39,878 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). 3.9% of Palm Coast households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Palm Coast’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
For jobs and income, Palm Coast is 312th of 386 U.S. towns of 77,000 to 148,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| 3 | South Jordan UT | 87,614 | $134K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 90 | Doral FL | 81,634 | $94K | 10.3% | 3.3% | 21% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 110 | Plantation FL | 99,183 | $93K | 10.0% | 4.0% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 112 | Kendall FL | 79,562 | $87K | 11.2% | 3.3% | 11% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 310 | Greeley CO | 115,073 | $70K | 15.1% | 5.6% | 33% | C+ |
| 311 | Warren MI | 137,138 | $64K | 14.8% | 8.0% | 15% | C+ |
| 312 | Palm Coast FL | 109,886 | $77K | 10.6% | 4.5% | 17% | C+ |
| 313 | Norman OK | 130,943 | $68K | 16.8% | 5.7% | 31% | C+ |
| 314 | Spring Hill FL | 119,983 | $68K | 11.8% | 5.5% | 15% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 386 | Flint MI | 79,306 | $38K | 34.1% | 14.8% | 20% | 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 Palm Coast, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Next door is work for 10% of Palm Coast
The biggest share goes to Bunnell (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Palm Coast workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Coast | – | C+ | C+ | 27 min | $77,350 |
| Bunnell | 8% | D | A | 20 min | $55,130 |
| Flagler Beach | 2% | B− | A− | 26 min | $84,632 |
| Espanola | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Espanola: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Palm Coast’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 Palm Coast: questions
What is the median household income in Palm Coast?
$77,350 (±$3,887) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Palm Coast?
10.6%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Palm Coast?
27 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Palm Coast work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jacksonville (9%, 61 mi), Bunnell (8%, 9 mi), Daytona Beach (7%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Palm Coast walkable?
Palm Coast is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Palm Coast without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Palm Coast, from the people who make the trip.
More of Palm Coast
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.