Photo: DanTD · CC BY-SA 4.0Polk City has lower unemployment (3.1%) than 68% of U.S. towns
The average commute takes 32 minutes each way, where Florida has 28 and the U.S. 26. Jobs and income earn Polk City B; getting around on foot earns it C−. Only 2% stay in Polk City for work; outside it, Lakeland is the main destination (18%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Polk City: the figures worth knowing
Jobs in Polk City have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Polk City went from 317 in 2014 to 768 in 2024, +142%. The jobs ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
32% of the jobs based in Polk City are held by workers 29 or younger, against 22% of Polk City’s own working residents. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The four measures behind Polk City’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Polk City is better than 56% of U.S. towns, #284 of 638 in Florida. Unemployment holds Polk City’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (12.2%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Polk City could be anywhere from C to A−.
What Polk City’s employers do
768 jobs are based in Polk City.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Polk City, 2014 → 2024: 317 → 768. 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 Polk City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Polk City
On a workday 1,191 residents head out to work, 28 work right here, and 740 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,600 people are in Polk City on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.63 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 2024, primary jobs.
Where Polk City’s working residents head each day
Where Polk City clocks in
18% of workers
5% 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.
Polk City’s commute takes about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Polk City workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,269 commuters (the 14% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Polk City
About 20% 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.
Driving is how Polk City gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Polk City is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns, #577 of 638 in Florida. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.6% across Florida, on an EPA index of 4.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,470 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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 Polk City households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Polk City’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Polk City is 1,902nd of 4,562 U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | Geneva FL | 3,441 | $133K | 0.6% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| 72 | Windermere FL | 3,344 | $178K | 1.3% | 2.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 103 | Pelican Marsh FL | 2,617 | $143K | 2.7% | 1.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,900 | Eagle Crest OR | 2,677 | $103K | 6.5% | 3.6% | 2% | B |
| 1,901 | Gray TN | 2,237 | $70K | 9.8% | 0.0% | 1% | B |
| 1,902 | Polk City FL | 3,082 | $80K | 12.2% | 3.1% | 2% | B |
| 1,903 | Glen Rose TX | 3,148 | $75K | 12.0% | 1.3% | 22% | B |
| 1,904 | Sparta Township IN | 2,846 | $82K | 10.8% | 3.4% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,562 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Polk City, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Work next door: 21% of Polk City’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Polk City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polk City | – | B | C− | 32 min | $79,762 |
| Auburndale | 3% | B | C+ | 33 min | $77,911 |
| Lakeland | 18% | B− | A | 23 min | $64,185 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Lakeland. Darker towns draw more of Polk 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 Polk City: questions
What is the median household income in Polk City?
$79,762 (±$9,533) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Polk City?
12.2%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Polk City?
32 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Polk City work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lakeland (18%, 12 mi), Orlando (5%, 37 mi), Bartow (5%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Polk City walkable?
Polk City is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 4.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Polk City without a car?
<1% 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 Polk City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Polk 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.