Dunlawton Plantation-Sugar Mill Ruins · Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY 2.5Work and commuting in Port Orange
A typical one-way commute lasts 26 minutes (Florida 28, U.S. 26). Jobs and income earn Port Orange B−; getting around on foot earns it B+. About one in seven work in Port Orange itself; outside it, Daytona Beach draws the most (21%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Port Orange
What’s behind Port Orange’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Port Orange is better than 49% of U.S. towns, #347 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car holds Port Orange’s grade up (ahead of 62% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.7%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Port Orange could be anywhere from C+ to B.
A workday in Port Orange: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 22,198 residents head out to work, 3,635 work right here, and 11,919 people come in from elsewhere.
About 56,000 people are in Port Orange on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.60 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.
Out of Port Orange to work: where people go
Where Port Orange clocks in
21% of workers
7% of workers
4% 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.
Inside Port Orange’s 15,554 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Port Orange, 2013 → 2023: 12,704 → 15,554. 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 Port Orange’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Port Orange’s commute takes about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Port Orange workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 26,100 commuters (the 12% 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.
How far Port Orange goes to work
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.
For most of Port Orange, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Port Orange is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns, #313 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 29,604 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 49% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 8% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 85% 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). 2.9% of Port Orange households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Port Orange’s commuters take a bus or train.
466th of 680: where Port Orange ranks among U.S. towns of 46,000 to 90,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 84 | Weston FL | 69,588 | $140K | 6.1% | 3.9% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 116 | Horizon West FL | 67,416 | $127K | 7.3% | 2.9% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 145 | Coral Gables FL | 49,578 | $134K | 9.4% | 3.6% | 18% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 464 | Eau Claire WI | 72,465 | $67K | 14.3% | 3.4% | 50% | B− |
| 465 | Twin Falls ID | 56,216 | $61K | 11.4% | 3.0% | 56% | B− |
| 466 | Port Orange FL | 66,395 | $74K | 11.0% | 4.7% | 14% | B− |
| 467 | New Albany Township IN | 52,380 | $65K | 14.5% | 4.5% | 24% | B− |
| 468 | Sherman TX | 52,417 | $59K | 12.7% | 2.6% | 28% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 680 | Pahrump NV | 47,347 | $62K | 13.7% | 8.5% | 28% | 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 Port Orange, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Bordering towns draw 28% of Port Orange’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Port Orange workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Orange | – | B− | B+ | 26 min | $74,426 |
| Samsula-Spruce Creek | under 2% | A | C+ | 39 min | $97,805 |
| South Daytona | 3% | C | A | 21 min | $56,579 |
| Daytona Beach Shores | under 2% | B | A | 34 min | $74,392 |
| Ponce Inlet | under 2% | A− | A− | 28 min | $102,200 |
| New Smyrna Beach | 4% | B− | B | 29 min | $83,865 |
| Daytona Beach | 21% | C | A | 21 min | $52,058 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Daytona Beach. Darker towns draw more of Port Orange’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 Port Orange: questions
What is the median household income in Port Orange?
$74,426 (±$5,723) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Port Orange?
11.0%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Port Orange?
26 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Port Orange work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Daytona Beach (21%, 7 mi), DeLand (7%, 18 mi), Ormond Beach (4%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Port Orange walkable?
Port Orange is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Port Orange without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 8% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Port Orange, from the people who make the trip.
More of Port Orange
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.