Ritz Theater · Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY 2.5Households in Sanford have lower incomes than those in 63% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 3.8 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 8.0 in Orlando. The poverty rate is 11.9% (Florida 12.6%). Jobs and income earn Sanford B; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Sanford: the gist
Sanford draws workers from far and wide
The 40,531 jobs in Sanford are filled from a wide area. Sanford’s own residents hold 11% and the ten next-biggest home towns 26%; the other 63% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Sanford’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Sanford is Orlando, 22 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (3,888) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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.
The figures behind Sanford’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sanford is better than 56% of U.S. towns, #290 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car holds Sanford’s grade up (ahead of 85% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($66,891, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sanford could be anywhere from B− to B+.
13% of working residents work in Orlando
Where Sanford clocks in
13% of workers
7% of workers
3% 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.
Half of Sanford commutes less than 15 miles
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The workday shuffle in and out of Sanford
On a workday 24,535 residents head out to work, 4,520 work right here, and 36,011 people come in from elsewhere.
About 79,000 people are in Sanford on a workday afternoon, 17% 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.
The kinds of work in Sanford
40,531 jobs are based in Sanford.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sanford, 2013 → 2023: 35,513 → 40,531. 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 Sanford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 25 minutes each way for Sanford’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sanford workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 26,292 commuters (the 19% 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.
Sanford is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sanford is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #205 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.5% 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 32,658 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 56% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 21% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 80% 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). 6.7% of Sanford households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Sanford’s commuters take a bus or train.
Sanford next to U.S. towns of 47,000 to 91,000: 411th of 660 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | Weston FL | 69,588 | $140K | 6.1% | 3.9% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 108 | Horizon West FL | 67,416 | $127K | 7.3% | 2.9% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 135 | Coral Gables FL | 49,578 | $134K | 9.4% | 3.6% | 18% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 409 | Lacey WA | 58,833 | $91K | 11.6% | 4.9% | 17% | B |
| 410 | Paramount CA | 50,755 | $75K | 12.6% | 5.7% | 7% | B |
| 411 | Sanford FL | 67,483 | $67K | 11.9% | 4.0% | 16% | B |
| 412 | Burien WA | 51,859 | $91K | 12.9% | 7.0% | 6% | B |
| 413 | Baldwin Park CA | 68,880 | $81K | 13.5% | 6.0% | 7% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 660 | 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 Sanford, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Sanford and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Lake Mary (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Sanford’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 Sanford: questions
What is the median household income in Sanford?
$66,891 (±$2,764) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sanford?
11.9%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sanford?
25 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sanford work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Orlando (13%, 22 mi), Lake Mary (7%, 4 mi), Altamonte Springs (3%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sanford walkable?
Sanford is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 10.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sanford without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 21% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sanford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sanford
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.