Photo: Alexf · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Surfside have higher incomes than those in 77% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 25% of workers, against 16% across Florida. Poverty touches 9.9% of residents, against 12.6% across Florida. Surfside grades B+ 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
Surfside at work: what stands out
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Surfside’s working residents have a job less than 9 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 32 minutes, longer than the Florida average of 28. Time on the road ↓
Surfside has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Surfside went from 1,715 in 2013 to 2,565 in 2023, +50%. The jobs ↓
Home offices are common in Surfside
25% of Surfside workers work from home, against 16% across Florida. 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.
Jobs & income in Surfside: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Surfside is better than 70% of U.S. towns, #175 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car holds Surfside’s grade up (ahead of 90% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Surfside could be anywhere from C+ to A+.
From Surfside, about 32 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Surfside workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,757 commuters (the 25% 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 2,565 jobs based in Surfside
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Surfside, 2013 → 2023: 1,715 → 2,565. 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 Surfside’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Surfside fills up on a workday
On a workday 1,710 residents head out to work, 212 work right here, and 2,353 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,200 people are in Surfside on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.33 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.
20% of working residents work in Miami
Where Surfside clocks in
20% of workers
9% 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.
How many miles Surfside commutes
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.
Surfside is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,340 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 100% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 15.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 97% 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). 4.6% of Surfside households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Surfside’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,502 U.S. towns of 3,900 to 7,500, Surfside comes 1,167th 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Bay Hill FL | 4,512 | $128K | 0.7% | 1.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 180 | Neptune Beach FL | 7,020 | $119K | 3.1% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 193 | Highland Beach FL | 4,328 | $145K | 2.3% | 3.5% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,165 | Butler Township OH | 6,667 | $69K | 5.0% | 1.2% | 29% | B+ |
| 1,166 | Karns TN | 4,115 | $100K | 3.8% | 9.5% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,167 | Surfside FL | 5,591 | $100K | 9.9% | 5.2% | 11% | B+ |
| 1,168 | Monticello IA | 4,104 | $70K | 6.0% | 0.8% | 31% | B+ |
| 1,169 | Stewartville MN | 6,850 | $83K | 4.8% | 3.5% | 14% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,502 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Surfside, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Surfside and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Bal Harbour (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Surfside workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surfside | – | B+ | A+ | 32 min | $100,208 |
| Indian Creek | under 2% | — | — | 39 min | — |
| Bal Harbour | 2% | C+ | A+ | 36 min | $80,806 |
Same-state neighbors only. Indian Creek: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Surfside’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 Surfside: questions
What is the median household income in Surfside?
$100,208 (±$28,012) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Surfside?
9.9%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Surfside?
32 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 25% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Surfside work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Miami (20%, 9 mi), Miami Beach (9%, 5 mi), Fort Lauderdale (3%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Surfside walkable?
Surfside is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 16.8 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Surfside without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 100% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Surfside, from the people who make the trip.
More of Surfside
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.