Photo: JonathanPuello · CC BY-SA 4.0Stuart has 4.2 jobs for every working resident: 27,583 people commute in to work
Jobs & income C−: better than 22% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #560 of 638 in Florida.
Walkability A: more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns · #161 of 638 in Florida.
Household incomes here are lower than in 74% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 25 minutes each way (Florida 28, U.S. 26). About one in four work in Stuart; the top destination outside it is Port St. Lucie (5%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Stuart, in brief
Stuart fills up on a workday
Stuart has 29,251 jobs, 4.2 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 42,000 people are in town, more than double the 19,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
No single place dominates Stuart’s commute
The biggest draw, Port St. Lucie, gets only 5% of working residents, and 53% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Stuart residents fan out across the region. 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.
What’s behind Stuart’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Stuart is better than 22% of U.S. towns, #560 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car holds Stuart’s grade up (ahead of 63% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (8.2%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Stuart could be anywhere from D to C+.
Stuart’s population more than doubles on a workday
On a workday 5,326 residents head out to work, 1,668 work right here, and 27,583 people come in from elsewhere.
About 42,000 people are in Stuart on a workday afternoon, 114% more than live here.
4.2 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Where Stuart’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Stuart clocks in
5% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 29,251 jobs in Stuart are
29,251 jobs are based in Stuart. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Stuart’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Stuart, 2013 → 2023: 22,313 → 29,251. 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.
About 25 minutes each way, quicker than most of Florida
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Stuart workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,854 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.
Half of Stuart commutes less than 17 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 29% 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.
Stuart is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Stuart is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns, #161 of 638 in Florida. Both inputs place Stuart near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,824 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 9.6% of Stuart households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Stuart’s commuters take a bus or train.
Stuart is 1,539th of 1,760 U.S. towns of 14,000 to 26,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Stuart, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Pinecrest FL | 18,635 | $206K | 4.3% | 3.0% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 90 | Lake Butler FL | 17,125 | $183K | 3.7% | 2.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 118 | Palm Valley FL | 19,796 | $117K | 4.2% | 1.2% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,537 | Hereford TX | 14,976 | $57K | 15.7% | 4.1% | 28% | C− |
| 1,538 | Brent FL | 23,813 | $49K | 22.5% | 6.0% | 13% | C− |
| 1,539 | Stuart FL | 19,451 | $60K | 17.3% | 8.2% | 24% | C− |
| 1,540 | Painesville OH | 20,660 | $52K | 25.6% | 6.5% | 10% | C− |
| 1,541 | Muskegon Township MI | 17,911 | $55K | 16.6% | 7.9% | 6% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,760 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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.
Stuart and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Jensen Beach (3%). Darker towns draw more of Stuart’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Stuart workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stuart | – | C− | A | 25 min | $60,225 |
| North River Shores | under 2% | C+ | C+ | 27 min | $75,896 |
| Jensen Beach | 3% | C+ | B | 28 min | $70,884 |
| Rio | under 2% | B− | C+ | 15 min | $91,953 |
| Palm City | 2% | B+ | C+ | 32 min | $125,820 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Stuart: questions
What is the median household income in Stuart?
$60,225 (±$7,710) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Stuart?
17.3%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Stuart?
25 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Stuart work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Port St. Lucie (5%, 11 mi), Jupiter (3%, 20 mi), West Palm Beach (3%, 32 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Stuart walkable?
Stuart is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.8 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Stuart without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Stuart, from the people who make the trip.
More of Stuart
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.