Work & commute · Lakeland Highlands

Work & commute in Lakeland Highlands, FL

Most working residents leave Lakeland Highlands for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Lakeland (31%), Bartow (9%) and Tampa (4%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

156 of 5,596 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

15%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 5,440 Lakeland Highlands residents head out of town to work, 156 work right here, and 2,571 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lakeland Highlands.

5,440live here, work elsewhere

156live and work here

2,571work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lakeland Highlands goes to work

Lakeland6.5 mi away

31%1,744

Bartow9.5 mi away

9%482

Tampa31.9 mi away

4%229

Winter Haven14.6 mi away

3%160

Lakeland Highlands (in town)right here

3%156

Orlando52.1 mi away

2%125

Plant City10.7 mi away

2%118

Jacksonville165 mi away

1%63

East Lake-Orient Park25.3 mi away

1%61

Medulla1.8 mi away

1%59

Everywhere elseother towns and states

43%2,399

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

How far

How far Lakeland Highlands commutes

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

51%

13%

17%

19%

51%Under 10 mi

13%10–24 mi

17%25–50 mi

19%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lakeland Highlands is a commuter town

0.49jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Lakeland Highlands are

2,727 jobs are based in Lakeland Highlands. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lakeland Highlands’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Lakeland Highlands

2,727 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month36%

Over $3,333 a month46%

Jobs Lakeland Highlands residents hold

5,596 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month62%

−11%

Jobs based in Lakeland Highlands, 2013 → 2023: 3,053 → 2,727. 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.