Sanibel Lighthouse and Keeper's Quarters · Photo: Lewis Brian Day · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Sanibel have higher incomes than those in 83% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 31% of workers (Florida 16%). Below the poverty line: 11.6% of residents, next to 12.6% for Florida as a whole. Sanibel grades C+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Sanibel at work: what stands out
Fewer jobs are based in Sanibel than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Sanibel fell from 3,335 in 2013 to 1,764 in 2023, −47%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Home offices are common in Sanibel
31% of Sanibel workers work from home, against 16% across Florida. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
42% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Commutes from Sanibel are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 28 across Florida. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Florida worker. Time on the road ↓
Sanibel’s workforce skews older
41% of Sanibel’s working residents are 55 or older. That’s about two in five. The jobs ↓
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.
Jobs & income in Sanibel: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sanibel is better than 40% of U.S. towns, #420 of 638 in Florida. Household income holds Sanibel’s grade up ($108,644, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 18% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sanibel could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Inside Sanibel’s 1,764 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sanibel, 2013 → 2023: 3,335 → 1,764. 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 Sanibel’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Sanibel: about 21 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sanibel workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,343 commuters (the 31% 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.
The commute from Sanibel, by distance
About 42% 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.
How many people are in Sanibel by day
On a workday 1,087 residents head out to work, 264 work right here, and 1,500 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.31 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.
7% of working residents work in Fort Myers
Where Sanibel clocks in
7% of workers
3% 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.
Sanibel is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sanibel is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns, #228 of 638 in Florida. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 14.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.6% across Florida, on an EPA index of 6.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,949 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). 1.2% of Sanibel households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Sanibel’s commuters take a bus or train.
Sanibel is 2,189th of 3,349 U.S. towns of 4,400 to 8,500 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Southwest Ranches FL | 7,773 | $161K | 3.8% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Bay Hill FL | 4,512 | $128K | 0.7% | 1.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 168 | Neptune Beach FL | 7,020 | $119K | 3.1% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,187 | Madison ME | 4,888 | $62K | 15.0% | 0.7% | 8% | C+ |
| 2,188 | Hoosick NY | 6,678 | $63K | 12.8% | 1.9% | 18% | C+ |
| 2,189 | Sanibel FL | 6,303 | $109K | 11.6% | 5.7% | 20% | C+ |
| 2,190 | Medina NY | 5,855 | $59K | 12.3% | 3.3% | 26% | C+ |
| 2,191 | DuBois PA | 7,254 | $63K | 14.0% | 3.4% | 28% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,349 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Sanibel, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Sanibel and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sanibel workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanibel | – | C+ | A− | 21 min | $108,644 |
| Captiva | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Captiva: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Sanibel’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 Sanibel: questions
What is the median household income in Sanibel?
$108,644 (±$30,153) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sanibel?
11.6%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sanibel?
21 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 31% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sanibel work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Myers (7%, 20 mi), Cape Coral (3%, 15 mi), Bonita Springs (3%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sanibel walkable?
Sanibel is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 15% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sanibel 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 Sanibel, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sanibel
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.