Watergate has higher unemployment (8.7%) than 91% of U.S. towns
3% of workers work from home, next to 16% for Florida as a whole. Jobs and income earn Watergate C; getting around on foot earns it B+. Hardly any stay in Watergate for work; outside it, Boca Raton is the main destination (12%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Watergate and work: the main findings
Watergate is a place people come home to
There are 115 jobs based in Watergate, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Watergate has about 2,500 people in it, 33% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Few Watergate workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 16% across Florida. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Watergate
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Watergate is better than 30% of U.S. towns, #501 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car holds Watergate’s grade up (ahead of 88% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Watergate could be anywhere from C− to A−.
Who commutes out of Watergate, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,361 residents head out to work, 12 work right here, and 103 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,500 people are in Watergate on a workday afternoon, 33% fewer than live here.
0.08 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.
Getting to work from Watergate takes about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Watergate workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,680 commuters (the 3% 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.
Where people from Watergate work
Where Watergate clocks in
12% of workers
7% 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.
Watergate works in goods: 42% of its jobs
115 jobs are based in Watergate.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Watergate, 2013 → 2023: 90 → 115. 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 Watergate’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Watergate’s workers travel
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.
Few in Watergate walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Watergate is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns, #307 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.5% 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 1,734 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 98% 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 7.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 91% 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). 0.0% of Watergate households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Watergate’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Watergate is 3,164th of 4,430 U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Bay Hill FL | 4,512 | $128K | 0.7% | 1.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 81 | Geneva FL | 3,441 | $133K | 0.6% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 83 | Windermere FL | 3,344 | $178K | 1.3% | 2.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,162 | East China Township MI | 3,661 | $72K | 9.2% | 9.1% | 4% | C |
| 3,163 | Running Springs CA | 4,917 | $82K | 15.5% | 7.4% | 5% | C |
| 3,164 | Watergate FL | 3,782 | $67K | 21.9% | 8.7% | 1% | C |
| 3,165 | Mattawan MI | 2,934 | $62K | 12.1% | 8.2% | 10% | C |
| 3,166 | Williamston SC | 4,338 | $64K | 13.5% | 7.9% | 8% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,430 | 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 Watergate, 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 Watergate: questions
What is the median household income in Watergate?
$67,071 (±$17,438) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Watergate?
21.9%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Watergate?
31 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Watergate work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boca Raton (12%, 7 mi), Fort Lauderdale (7%, 14 mi), Deerfield Beach (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Watergate walkable?
Watergate is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 12.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Watergate without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Watergate, from the people who make the trip.
More of Watergate
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.