Work & commute · Fort Walton Beach

Work & commute in Fort Walton Beach, FL

About one in 4 of Fort Walton Beach’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Destin (9%), Wright (9%) and Miramar Beach (4%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

23%

1,919 of 8,246 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 6,327 Fort Walton Beach residents head out of town to work, 1,919 work right here, and 17,818 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Fort Walton Beach.

6,327live here, work elsewhere

1,919live and work here

17,818work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Fort Walton Beach goes to work

Fort Walton Beach (in town)right here

23%1,919

Destin9.3 mi away

9%771

Wright1.8 mi away

9%717

Miramar Beach16.7 mi away

4%363

Niceville11.3 mi away

3%251

Pensacola33.9 mi away

3%225

Crestview22.5 mi away

2%193

Ocean City1.3 mi away

2%187

Tallahassee141.2 mi away

2%161

Valparaiso7.8 mi away

2%130

Everywhere elseother towns and states

40%3,329

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

How far

How far Fort Walton Beach commutes

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

53%

19%

12%

16%

53%Under 10 mi

19%10–24 mi

12%25–50 mi

16%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Fort Walton Beach is a job hub

2.39jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.4 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Fort Walton Beach are

19,737 jobs are based in Fort Walton Beach. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Fort Walton Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Fort Walton Beach

19,737 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month59%

Jobs Fort Walton Beach residents hold

8,246 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month49%

+9%

Jobs based in Fort Walton Beach, 2013 → 2023: 18,180 → 19,737. 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.