Households in Wahneta earn less than those in 91% of U.S. towns
Wahneta grades D for jobs and income and D for walkability. The poverty rate is 24.2%; Florida has 12.6%. 5% of workers work from home, against 16% across Florida.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Wahneta apart on work
Wahneta is a place people come home to
There are 260 jobs based in Wahneta, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Wahneta has about 2,300 people in it, 40% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Wahneta workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 35 minutes each way, against 28 across Florida. Over a year that’s about 268 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. 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.
Where Wahneta’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wahneta is better than 14% of U.S. towns, #595 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car holds Wahneta’s grade up (ahead of 62% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wahneta could be anywhere from D to B.
Wahneta by day and by night
On a workday 1,779 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 247 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Wahneta on a workday afternoon, 40% fewer than live here.
0.15 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
About 35 minutes each way for Wahneta’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wahneta workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,324 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.
13% of working residents work in Winter Haven
Where Wahneta clocks in
13% of workers
8% of workers
7% 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.
What work there is in Wahneta: 260 jobs
260 jobs are based in Wahneta.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wahneta, 2013 → 2023: 332 → 260. 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 Wahneta’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Wahneta, by distance
About 26% 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.
The commute in Wahneta is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wahneta is more walkable than 11% of U.S. towns, #618 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,388 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). 4.9% of Wahneta households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Wahneta’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Wahneta ranks: 3,729th of 4,264 U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,200
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Bay Hill FL | 4,512 | $128K | 0.7% | 1.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Geneva FL | 3,441 | $133K | 0.6% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 78 | Windermere FL | 3,344 | $178K | 1.3% | 2.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,727 | Fellsmere FL | 5,025 | $56K | 18.8% | 7.8% | 12% | D |
| 3,728 | Mount Morris NY | 2,857 | $51K | 13.3% | 7.7% | 12% | D |
| 3,729 | Wahneta FL | 3,876 | $47K | 24.2% | 7.3% | 1% | D |
| 3,730 | Fort Pierce South FL | 5,028 | $51K | 29.8% | 7.9% | 1% | D |
| 3,731 | Cut Bank MT | 2,976 | $49K | 18.9% | 3.5% | 37% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,264 | 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 Wahneta, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Work next door: 13% of Wahneta’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wahneta workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wahneta | – | D | D | 35 min | $46,598 |
| Eagle Lake | under 2% | C+ | C− | 31 min | $70,523 |
| Winter Haven | 13% | C | B | 28 min | $59,648 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Winter Haven. Darker towns draw more of Wahneta’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 Wahneta: questions
What is the median household income in Wahneta?
$46,598 (±$9,769) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wahneta?
24.2%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wahneta?
35 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wahneta work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Winter Haven (13%, 6 mi), Lakeland (8%, 15 mi), Bartow (7%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wahneta walkable?
Wahneta is more walkable than 11% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wahneta without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wahneta, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wahneta
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.