Work & commute · Fort Meade

Work & commute in Fort Meade, FL

Most working residents leave Fort Meade for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Bartow (15%), Lakeland (10%) and Winter Haven (3%). Half commute less than 21 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

161 of 2,499 working residents

Typical commute

21 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

40 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,338 Fort Meade residents head out of town to work, 161 work right here, and 614 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Fort Meade.

2,338live here, work elsewhere

161live and work here

614work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Fort Meade goes to work

Bartow8.5 mi away

15%363

Lakeland22.1 mi away

10%240

Fort Meade (in town)right here

6%161

Winter Haven19.9 mi away

3%78

Wauchula15.1 mi away

3%74

Orlando57 mi away

3%67

Tampa43.3 mi away

2%51

Haines City26.6 mi away

1%33

Bradley Junction10.8 mi away

1%29

Plant City25.8 mi away

1%28

Everywhere elseother towns and states

55%1,375

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Fort Meade commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

18%

39%

16%

26%

18%Under 10 mi

39%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

26%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Fort Meade is a commuter town

0.31jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.31 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Fort Meade are

775 jobs are based in Fort Meade. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Fort Meade’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Fort Meade

775 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)40%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)37%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month42%

Over $3,333 a month41%

Jobs Fort Meade residents hold

2,499 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)22%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month53%

−14%

Jobs based in Fort Meade, 2013 → 2023: 897 → 775. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.