Photo: Skye Marthaler · CC BY-SA 4.0Valparaiso draws 3,356 commuters a day, with 2.0 jobs for every working resident
There are 3,506 jobs in Valparaiso; 1,760 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Valparaiso are B+ for jobs and income and A for walkability. 5% of workers have no commute at all, next to 16% for Florida as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Valparaiso
Commutes from Valparaiso are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 28 across Florida. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical Florida worker. Time on the road ↓
The jobs in Valparaiso pay better than its residents’ jobs
78% of the jobs based in Valparaiso pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 52% of the jobs Valparaiso residents hold. 96% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Valparaiso. The jobs ↓
Valparaiso is where the jobs are
Valparaiso has 3,506 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
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.
Inside Valparaiso’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Valparaiso is better than 67% of U.S. towns, #199 of 638 in Florida. The poverty rate holds Valparaiso’s grade up (3.4%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 39% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Valparaiso could be anywhere from C+ to A.
Each way, about 17 minutes from Valparaiso
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Valparaiso workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,776 commuters (the 5% 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.
78% of the jobs in Valparaiso pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Valparaiso, 2013 → 2023: 3,351 → 3,506. 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 Valparaiso’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Valparaiso, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,610 residents head out to work and 150 work right here.
About 6,600 people are in Valparaiso on a workday afternoon, 36% more 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 towns that send workers to Valparaiso
Where Valparaiso clocks in
13% of workers
13% of workers
6% 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 Valparaiso commutes
About 16% 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.
Valparaiso 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, Valparaiso is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns, #153 of 638 in Florida. Both inputs place Valparaiso 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 2,931 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). 3.8% of Valparaiso households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Valparaiso’s commuters take a bus or train.
Valparaiso is 1,374th of 3,840 U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,600 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 54 | Bay Hill FL | 4,512 | $128K | 0.7% | 1.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | Geneva FL | 3,441 | $133K | 0.6% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 143 | Vineyards FL | 3,849 | $131K | 2.5% | 1.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,372 | Robinson Township MI | 6,475 | $99K | 4.2% | 6.9% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,373 | Girard Township PA | 4,780 | $95K | 5.4% | 3.6% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,374 | Valparaiso FL | 4,896 | $90K | 3.4% | 4.4% | 9% | B+ |
| 1,375 | Buckley WA | 5,688 | $125K | 9.3% | 4.5% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,376 | Hensley Township IN | 4,086 | $91K | 2.5% | 6.6% | 8% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,840 | 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 Valparaiso, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
The towns next door employ 13% of Valparaiso
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Valparaiso workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valparaiso | – | B+ | A | 17 min | $90,110 |
| Niceville | 13% | B+ | B | 25 min | $102,409 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Niceville. Darker towns draw more of Valparaiso’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 Valparaiso: questions
What is the median household income in Valparaiso?
$90,110 (±$19,299) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Valparaiso?
3.4%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Valparaiso?
17 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Valparaiso work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Walton Beach (13%, 8 mi), Niceville (13%, 4 mi), Destin (6%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Valparaiso walkable?
Valparaiso is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Valparaiso without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Valparaiso, from the people who make the trip.
More of Valparaiso
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.