Photo: LittleT889 · CC BY-SA 4.0There are 1.9 jobs in Williston for every working resident, and 2,002 people commute in
Williston has 2,189 jobs, against 1,175 working residents. For jobs and income Williston is better than 45% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (B). About one in seven stay in Williston for work; outside it, Gainesville is the main destination (21%, 20 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Williston and work: the main findings
Williston is where the jobs are
Williston has 2,189 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Williston makes and builds things
48% of the jobs based in Williston are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Williston residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 20%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Williston are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 28 across Florida. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Florida worker. Time on the road ↓
Williston has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Williston went from 1,605 in 2013 to 2,189 in 2023, +36%. The jobs ↓
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.
How Williston earns its Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Williston’s grade up (1.7%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (15.8%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Williston could be anywhere from C to B.
The daily flow of workers through Williston
On a workday 988 residents head out to work and 187 work right here.
About 4,500 people are in Williston on a workday afternoon, 29% more than live here.
1.9 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.
Williston works in goods: 48% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Williston, 2013 → 2023: 1,605 → 2,189. 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 Williston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 23 minutes each way for Williston’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Williston workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,160 commuters (the 12% 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.
The daily trip into Williston
Where Williston clocks in
21% 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.
Half of Williston commutes less than 20 miles
About 24% 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.
In Williston, the car does most of the work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.9% 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 1,323 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). 6.4% of Williston households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Williston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Williston is 2,508th of 4,535 U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,700 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Bay Hill FL | 4,512 | $128K | 0.7% | 1.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Geneva FL | 3,441 | $133K | 0.6% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 84 | Windermere FL | 3,344 | $178K | 1.3% | 2.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,506 | Captain Cook HI | 3,419 | $109K | 4.4% | 8.2% | 5% | B− |
| 2,507 | St. Leo FL | 2,468 | $96K | 20.9% | 16.4% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,508 | Williston FL | 3,456 | $61K | 15.8% | 1.7% | 16% | C+ |
| 2,509 | Lodi OH | 2,822 | $52K | 9.3% | 4.6% | 7% | C+ |
| 2,510 | Croton Township MI | 3,472 | $77K | 12.7% | 2.1% | <1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,535 | 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 Williston, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
How Williston compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to East Williston (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Williston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williston | – | C+ | B | 23 min | $61,111 |
| East Williston | 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. East Williston: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Williston’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 Williston: questions
What is the median household income in Williston?
$61,111 (±$5,351) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Williston?
15.8%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Williston?
23 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Williston work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Gainesville (21%, 20 mi), Bronson (7%, 12 mi), Ocala (6%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Williston walkable?
Williston is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Williston without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Williston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Williston
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.