Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Florida have higher incomes than those in 89% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 7% of workers; New York has 15%. 6.8% of residents live below the poverty line (New York 14.0%). The two grades for Florida are B+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Florida: the gist
The figures behind Florida’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Florida is better than 74% of U.S. towns, #212 of 758 in New York. Household income holds Florida’s grade up ($123,250, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.6%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Florida could be anywhere from B− to A+.
23% of working residents work in Warwick
Where Florida clocks in
23% of workers
18% of workers
8% 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.
A workday in Florida: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,209 residents head out to work, 107 work right here, and 977 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.82 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What Florida’s employers do
1,084 jobs are based in Florida.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Florida, 2013 → 2023: 1,108 → 1,084. 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 Florida’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 30 minutes in Florida
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Florida workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,349 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across New York: 57% drive alone, 25% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How far Florida goes to work
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.
Florida is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Florida is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns, #313 of 758 in New York. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 11.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 6.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,448 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). 5.3% of Florida households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of Florida’s commuters take a bus or train.
Florida places 1,088th of 4,882 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,900
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Old Brookville NY | 2,098 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | East Williston NY | 2,616 | $215K | 2.3% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 11 | Lloyd Harbor NY | 3,587 | $250K | 2.1% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,086 | West Sadsbury Township PA | 2,458 | $94K | 11.8% | 1.9% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,087 | Lake Wilderness VA | 3,139 | $121K | 1.5% | 4.4% | <1% | B+ |
| 1,088 | Florida NY | 2,852 | $123K | 6.8% | 4.6% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,089 | Laurel Park NC | 2,360 | $90K | 5.5% | 2.9% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,090 | Zelienople PA | 3,752 | $68K | 6.3% | 2.5% | 9% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,882 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Florida, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Next door is work for 31% of Florida
The biggest share goes to Warwick (23%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Florida’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 Florida: questions
What is the median household income in Florida?
$123,250 (±$13,921) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Florida?
6.8%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Florida?
30 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Florida work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Warwick (23%, 5 mi), New York City (18%, 51 mi), Goshen (8%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Florida walkable?
Florida is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Florida without a car?
5% 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 Florida, from the people who make the trip.
More of Florida
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.