Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 2.5Most of St. Cloud commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
St. Cloud has 11,089 jobs, against 29,977 working residents. The two grades for St. Cloud are B− for jobs and income and B for walkability. About one in ten work in St. Cloud itself; outside it, Orlando draws the most (19%, 17 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from St. Cloud, in brief
St. Cloud has added jobs fast
Jobs based in St. Cloud went from 6,903 in 2013 to 11,089 in 2023, +61%. The jobs ↓
St. Cloud workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 28 across Florida. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
St. Cloud draws workers from far and wide
The 11,089 jobs in St. Cloud are filled from a wide area. St. Cloud’s own residents hold 22% and the ten next-biggest home towns 15%; the other 63% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
The figures behind St. Cloud’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, St. Cloud is better than 53% of U.S. towns, #315 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car holds St. Cloud’s grade up (ahead of 72% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.9%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, St. Cloud could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
The kinds of work in St. Cloud
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. Cloud, 2013 → 2023: 6,903 → 11,089. 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 St. Cloud’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from St. Cloud: about 36 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. Cloud workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 25,981 commuters (the 13% 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 towns that employ St. Cloud’s residents
Where St. Cloud clocks in
19% of workers
6% 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.
In and out of St. Cloud on a workday
On a workday 27,556 residents head out to work, 2,421 work right here, and 8,668 people come in from elsewhere.
About 56,000 people are in St. Cloud on a workday afternoon, 25% fewer than live here.
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 commute from St. Cloud, by distance
About 18% 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 St. Cloud, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, St. Cloud is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns, #367 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.6% 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 30,000 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 26% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 2% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 72% 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). 4.0% of St. Cloud households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of St. Cloud’s commuters take a bus or train.
St. Cloud next to U.S. towns of 52,000 to 101,000: 388th of 599 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Weston FL | 69,588 | $140K | 6.1% | 3.9% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 88 | Horizon West FL | 67,416 | $127K | 7.3% | 2.9% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 159 | Palm Beach Gardens FL | 63,883 | $107K | 7.2% | 3.9% | 17% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 386 | Springdale AR | 90,685 | $70K | 13.4% | 3.7% | 36% | B− |
| 387 | Greenville SC | 75,310 | $71K | 14.0% | 4.4% | 38% | B− |
| 388 | St. Cloud FL | 74,960 | $83K | 10.1% | 5.9% | 8% | B− |
| 389 | Rich Township IL | 74,003 | $84K | 10.6% | 9.8% | 10% | B− |
| 390 | Carmichael CA | 76,948 | $86K | 12.6% | 7.3% | 7% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 599 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 St. Cloud, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
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 St. Cloud: questions
What is the median household income in St. Cloud?
$83,174 (±$5,897) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. Cloud?
10.1%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. Cloud?
36 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in St. Cloud work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Orlando (19%, 17 mi), Kissimmee (6%, 10 mi), Lake Buena Vista (4%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is St. Cloud walkable?
St. Cloud is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 9.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around St. Cloud without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 2% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from St. Cloud, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. Cloud
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.