Rockledge Drive Residential District · Photo: Fl295 at English Wikipedia · Public domainHouseholds in Rockledge earn more than those in 61% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Rockledge are B for jobs and income and B for walkability. 9.0% of residents live below the poverty line, against 12.6% across Florida. About one in seven stay in Rockledge for work; outside it, Melbourne is the main destination (9%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Rockledge
Rockledge has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Rockledge went from 8,338 in 2013 to 16,512 in 2023, +98%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Rockledge are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 28 across Florida. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Florida worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
How Rockledge earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rockledge is better than 55% of U.S. towns, #296 of 638 in Florida. Household income holds Rockledge’s grade up ($84,255, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rockledge could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Rockledge
16,512 jobs are based in Rockledge.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rockledge, 2013 → 2023: 8,338 → 16,512. 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 Rockledge’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 23 minutes to work from Rockledge
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rockledge workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 13,006 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 many people are in Rockledge by day
On a workday 10,409 residents head out to work, 1,509 work right here, and 15,003 people come in from elsewhere.
About 36,000 people are in Rockledge on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.39 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where the trip to work from Rockledge ends
Where Rockledge clocks in
9% of workers
6% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Rockledge
About 22% 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 Rockledge, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rockledge is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns, #415 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.7% 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 14,846 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 79% 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 2.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 73% 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). 3.3% of Rockledge households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Rockledge’s commuters take a bus or train.
Rockledge is 834th of 1,334 U.S. towns of 22,000 to 42,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 88 | Parkland FL | 39,186 | $199K | 4.3% | 3.1% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 92 | Jacksonville Beach FL | 23,615 | $121K | 4.8% | 1.8% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 104 | Palmetto Bay FL | 24,886 | $142K | 5.8% | 2.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 832 | Kent OH | 27,737 | $43K | 27.1% | 11.2% | 14% | B |
| 833 | Soledad CA | 26,357 | $97K | 16.7% | 2.7% | 19% | B |
| 834 | Rockledge FL | 31,343 | $84K | 9.0% | 5.0% | 13% | B |
| 835 | Tavares FL | 22,490 | $59K | 9.3% | 2.6% | 17% | B |
| 836 | Green Valley AZ | 22,114 | $62K | 7.7% | 2.4% | 12% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,334 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Rockledge, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Work in the towns next to Rockledge
The biggest share goes to Cocoa (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rockledge workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rockledge | – | B | B | 23 min | $84,255 |
| Viera East | under 2% | B+ | B− | 25 min | $92,467 |
| Cocoa | 5% | C | A | 26 min | $63,105 |
| Cocoa West | under 2% | C− | B− | 25 min | $34,126 |
| Merritt Island | 4% | B+ | B | 25 min | $94,012 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Rockledge’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 Rockledge: questions
What is the median household income in Rockledge?
$84,255 (±$6,855) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rockledge?
9.0%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rockledge?
23 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rockledge work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Melbourne (9%, 15 mi), Palm Bay (6%, 26 mi), Cocoa (5%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rockledge walkable?
Rockledge is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 10.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rockledge without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rockledge, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rockledge
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.