Photo: Connor J. Williams · CC BY 3.0There are 2.4 jobs in Wildwood for every working resident, and 12,013 people commute in
There are 13,061 jobs in Wildwood; 5,348 of its residents have a job. Jobs and income earn Wildwood C; getting around on foot earns it C+. About one in five stay in Wildwood for work; outside it, The Villages is the main destination (12%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Wildwood
Jobs in Wildwood have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Wildwood went from 4,949 in 2013 to 13,061 in 2023, +164%. The jobs ↓
Wildwood is where the jobs are
Wildwood has 13,061 jobs, 2.4 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 27,000 people are in town, 40% more than the 19,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Wildwood draws workers from far and wide
The 13,061 jobs in Wildwood are filled from a wide area. Wildwood’s own residents hold 8% and the ten next-biggest home towns 25%; the other 67% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Wildwood’s workforce skews older
40% of Wildwood’s working residents are 55 or older. That’s about two in five. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Wildwood are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 28 across Florida. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Florida 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Where Wildwood’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wildwood is better than 31% of U.S. towns, #495 of 638 in Florida. Household income holds Wildwood’s grade up ($76,552, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (7.5%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wildwood could be anywhere from C− to B−.
The kinds of work in Wildwood
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wildwood, 2013 → 2023: 4,949 → 13,061. 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 Wildwood’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Wildwood
On a workday 4,300 residents head out to work and 1,048 work right here.
About 27,000 people are in Wildwood on a workday afternoon, 40% more than live here.
2.4 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.
The daily trip into Wildwood
Where Wildwood clocks in
12% of workers
5% of workers
5% 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.
Commuting from Wildwood: about 22 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wildwood workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,397 commuters (the 18% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Wildwood
About 27% 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.
Most trips from Wildwood start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wildwood is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns, #510 of 638 in Florida. Both inputs place Wildwood 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 5,366 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). 4.8% of Wildwood households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Wildwood’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 14,000 to 26,000, Wildwood ranks 1,416th of 1,760 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Pinecrest FL | 18,635 | $206K | 4.3% | 3.0% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 90 | Lake Butler FL | 17,125 | $183K | 3.7% | 2.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 118 | Palm Valley FL | 19,796 | $117K | 4.2% | 1.2% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,414 | Camp Pendleton South CA | 15,766 | $70K | 6.6% | 13.2% | 1% | C |
| 1,415 | Shafter CA | 23,871 | $71K | 20.7% | 5.8% | 17% | C |
| 1,416 | Wildwood FL | 19,436 | $77K | 12.8% | 7.5% | 20% | C |
| 1,417 | Alton IL | 25,013 | $55K | 21.0% | 5.4% | 21% | C |
| 1,418 | Mount Clemens MI | 15,419 | $52K | 16.3% | 6.8% | 8% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,760 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Wildwood, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
17% of Wildwood works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wildwood workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wildwood | – | C | C+ | 22 min | $76,552 |
| The Villages | 12% | B | A− | 21 min | $77,622 |
| Leesburg | 5% | D | B+ | 26 min | $52,880 |
| Coleman | under 1% | — | — | 23 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Coleman: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to The Villages. Darker towns draw more of Wildwood’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 Wildwood: questions
What is the median household income in Wildwood?
$76,552 (±$7,841) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wildwood?
12.8%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wildwood?
22 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wildwood work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are The Villages (12%, 6 mi), Lady Lake (5%, 9 mi), Leesburg (5%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wildwood walkable?
Wildwood is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wildwood without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wildwood, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wildwood
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.