Parker has higher unemployment (8.5%) than 90% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 1.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 31.0 in Miami. Jobs and income earn Parker C+; getting around on foot earns it A. For 8% of workers, the job is at home (Florida 16%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Parker
Jobs & income in Parker: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Parker is better than 38% of U.S. towns, #431 of 638 in Florida. The poverty rate holds Parker’s grade up (6.8%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Parker could be anywhere from C− to A−.
31% of working residents work in Panama City
Where Parker clocks in
8% of workers
5% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Parker
On a workday 1,469 residents head out to work, 58 work right here, and 672 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,000 people are in Parker on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.48 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.
A place that makes things: 28% of Parker’s jobs are in goods
730 jobs are based in Parker.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Parker, 2013 → 2023: 634 → 730. 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 Parker’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Parker: about 24 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Parker workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,027 commuters (the 7% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Parker
About 26% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Parker
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Parker is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #130 of 638 in Florida. Both inputs place Parker 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 2,191 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 62% 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). 0.8% of Parker households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Parker’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,753 U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,500, Parker comes 2,440th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 49 | Bay Hill FL | 4,512 | $128K | 0.7% | 1.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 81 | Geneva FL | 3,441 | $133K | 0.6% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 135 | Vineyards FL | 3,849 | $131K | 2.5% | 1.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,438 | Landmark AR | 3,948 | $54K | 40.8% | 2.8% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,439 | Big Bear Lake CA | 5,018 | $76K | 6.2% | 5.3% | 13% | C+ |
| 2,440 | Parker FL | 4,832 | $70K | 6.8% | 8.5% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,441 | Clifton TX | 3,523 | $65K | 9.5% | 4.0% | 25% | C+ |
| 2,442 | Reedsport OR | 4,271 | $54K | 9.3% | 0.9% | 29% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,753 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Parker, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Around Parker: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Callaway (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Parker workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parker | – | C+ | A | 24 min | $69,657 |
| Callaway | 4% | B− | B− | 24 min | $65,609 |
| Springfield | 2% | C+ | B+ | 23 min | $54,462 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Parker’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 Parker: questions
What is the median household income in Parker?
$69,657 (±$14,480) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Parker?
6.8%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Parker?
24 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Parker work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Panama City (31%, 9 mi), Lynn Haven (8%, 8 mi), Panama City Beach (5%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Parker walkable?
Parker is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.2 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Parker without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Parker, from the people who make the trip.
More of Parker
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.