Albert Carlton Estate · Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 2.5Wauchula has lower unemployment (0.2%) than 98% of U.S. towns
The average commute takes 27 minutes each way (Florida 28, U.S. 26). Jobs and income earn Wauchula C; getting around on foot earns it A. Measured by household income, Wauchula is behind 84% of U.S. towns. <1% of workers have no commute at all, where Florida as a whole has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Wauchula: the gist
Wauchula is where the jobs are
Wauchula has 2,923 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Few Wauchula workers work from home
Only 0% of workers work from home, against 16% across Florida. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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.
The figures behind Wauchula’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wauchula is better than 27% of U.S. towns, #529 of 638 in Florida. Unemployment holds Wauchula’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (38.1%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wauchula could be anywhere from C− to B−.
In and out of Wauchula on a workday
On a workday 1,500 residents head out to work, 331 work right here, and 2,592 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,000 people are in Wauchula on a workday afternoon, 22% more than live here.
1.6 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.
Time on the road from Wauchula: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wauchula workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,754 commuters (the <1% 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 in the region Wauchula works
About 34% 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.
Where the people who work in Wauchula live
Where Wauchula clocks in
3% of workers
2% of workers
2% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Wauchula
2,923 jobs are based in Wauchula.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wauchula, 2013 → 2023: 3,304 → 2,923. 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 Wauchula’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Good to walk, short on transit: Wauchula
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wauchula is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns, #158 of 638 in Florida. Both inputs place Wauchula 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 1,758 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). 8.3% of Wauchula households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Wauchula’s commuters take a bus or train.
Wauchula is 2,838th of 3,692 U.S. towns of 3,500 to 6,700 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Bay Hill FL | 4,512 | $128K | 0.7% | 1.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 139 | Vineyards FL | 3,849 | $131K | 2.5% | 1.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 200 | Highland Beach FL | 4,328 | $145K | 2.3% | 3.5% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,836 | Maine NY | 5,001 | $69K | 11.6% | 7.6% | 5% | C |
| 2,837 | Mayfair CA | 5,044 | $62K | 18.9% | 14.7% | 1% | C |
| 2,838 | Wauchula FL | 4,946 | $53K | 38.1% | 0.2% | 18% | C |
| 2,839 | Mora MN | 3,763 | $53K | 16.6% | 2.6% | 34% | C |
| 2,840 | Oxford PA | 5,887 | $68K | 23.7% | 5.0% | 7% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,692 | 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 Wauchula, 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 Wauchula: questions
What is the median household income in Wauchula?
$53,013 (±$27,915) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wauchula?
38.1%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wauchula?
27 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. <1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wauchula work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bartow (3%, 24 mi), Lakeland (2%, 36 mi), Sebring (2%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wauchula walkable?
Wauchula is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.7 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wauchula without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wauchula, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wauchula
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.