Sapp House · Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 3.0There are 2.3 jobs in Panama City for every working resident, and 27,788 people commute in
About two in five work in Panama City; the top destination outside it is Panama City Beach (8%, 21 miles). There are 33,280 jobs in Panama City, and 14,204 of its residents work somewhere. Panama City grades C for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Panama City, in a few figures
Panama City is where the jobs are
Panama City has 33,280 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 57,000 people are in town, 50% more than the 38,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Panama City are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 28 across Florida. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Florida worker. Time on the road ↓
Most Panama City residents work close to home
62% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Panama City’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Panama City is better than 34% of U.S. towns, #460 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car holds Panama City’s grade up (ahead of 61% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (17.6%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Panama City could be anywhere from C− to B−.
The workday shuffle in and out of Panama City
On a workday 8,712 residents head out to work and 5,492 work right here.
About 57,000 people are in Panama City on a workday afternoon, 50% more than live here.
2.3 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
About 21 minutes each way, quicker than most of Florida
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Panama City workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 14,920 commuters (the 11% 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.
Half of Panama City commutes less than 5 miles
About 23% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Who travels to work in Panama City, and from where
Where Panama City clocks in
8% 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 Panama City’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Panama City, 2014 → 2024: 34,018 → 33,280. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Panama City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Driving is how Panama City gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Panama City is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns, #272 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 16,748 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 73% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 36% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 71% 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). 5.4% of Panama City households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Panama City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 26,000 to 51,000, Panama City ranks 996th of 1,196 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 65 | Parkland FL | 39,186 | $199K | 4.3% | 3.1% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 130 | Fruit Cove FL | 35,877 | $142K | 2.7% | 2.8% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 155 | Lutz FL | 27,106 | $120K | 6.1% | 2.6% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 994 | Bangor ME | 32,518 | $60K | 17.9% | 4.1% | 50% | C |
| 995 | Watsonville CA | 50,716 | $78K | 14.7% | 7.7% | 23% | C |
| 996 | Panama City FL | 37,806 | $62K | 17.6% | 4.5% | 39% | C |
| 997 | Manchester Township NJ | 46,556 | $57K | 10.5% | 7.3% | 6% | C |
| 998 | Charleston WV | 46,117 | $66K | 15.8% | 6.5% | 50% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,196 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 25% | 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 Panama City, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Next door to Panama City
The biggest share goes to Lynn Haven (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Panama City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panama City | – | C | B+ | 21 min | $62,265 |
| Pretty Bayou | under 2% | B+ | B− | 22 min | $85,208 |
| Cedar Grove | 2% | C | A− | 27 min | $74,625 |
| Lynn Haven | 6% | B+ | B+ | 25 min | $80,973 |
| Springfield | 1% | C+ | B+ | 23 min | $54,462 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Panama City’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 2024, 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 Panama City: questions
What is the median household income in Panama City?
$62,265 (±$3,031) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Panama City?
17.6%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Panama City?
21 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Panama City work?
39% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Panama City Beach (8%, 21 mi), Lynn Haven (6%, 6 mi), Upper Grand Lagoon (4%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Panama City walkable?
Panama City is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 12.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Panama City without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 36% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Panama City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Panama City
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.