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Work & commute in Lakewood Ranch · Balanced

89% of Lakewood Ranch’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Lakewood Ranch for work: only 11% work in town. The top destinations are Sarasota (10%), Bradenton (8%) and Tampa (7%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Work in town
11%
1,503 of 14,108 working residents
Typical commute
12 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
28 min
Less than FL (28 min)
Work from home
32%
More than FL (16%)
Jobs based here
18,359
Balanced

What kind of work town is Lakewood Ranch?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The jobs

65% of the jobs in Lakewood Ranch pay over $3,333 a month

18,359 jobs are based in Lakewood Ranch. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lakewood Ranch’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Lakewood RanchJobs Lakewood Ranch residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms11%11%
Trade, transport & utilities11%18%
Services: health, schools, offices79%70%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less12%13%
$1,251–$3,333 a month23%22%
Over $3,333 a month65%65%

Who does it

29 or younger21%19%
30 to 5451%50%
55 and older28%31%
+129%

Jobs based in Lakewood Ranch, 2013 → 2023: 8,001 → 18,359. 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.

Time on the road

About 28 minutes each way, about the FL average

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
214 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.9 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Lakewood Ranch28 min
Florida28 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
32%

of Lakewood Ranch workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.

About 3 in 10

How Lakewood Ranch ranks on commute time →

Day and night

Lakewood Ranch fills up on a workday

On a workday 12,605 residents head out to work, 1,503 work right here, and 16,856 people come in from elsewhere.

12,605live here, work elsewhere
1,503live and work here
16,856work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night44,000
Workday48,000
44,000live here− 13,000head out to work+ 17,000come in to work= 48,000on a workday

About 48,000 people are in Lakewood Ranch on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
1.30jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

About as many jobs as working residents (1.30 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.

The commute map

10% of working residents work in Sarasota

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

Bradenton: 1,155 residents work here (8%)Sarasota: 1,437 residents work here (10%)North PortTampa: 933 residents work here (7%)St. Petersburg: 551 residents work here (4%)South Sarasota: 123 residents work here (1%)Sarasota SpringsBayshore GardensSouth Bradenton: 137 residents work here (1%)Fruitville: 377 residents work here (3%)East Lake-Orient Park: 136 residents work here (1%)Lakewood RanchBrandon: 129 residents work here (1%)SarasotaBradentonTampaSt. PetersburgFruitvilleSouth BradentonLakewood Ranch
1
Lakewood Ranch (in town)right here
11%1,503
2
Sarasota11.3 mi away
10%1,437
3
Bradenton12.5 mi away
8%1,155
4
Tampa38 mi away
7%933
5
St. Petersburg28.3 mi away
4%551
6
Fruitville7.7 mi away
3%377
7
South Bradenton12.4 mi away
1%137
81%136
9
Brandon35.8 mi away
1%129
10
South Sarasota13.4 mi away
1%123
Everywhere elseother towns and states
54%7,627
The top trips

Where Lakewood Ranch clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

How far

Half of Lakewood Ranch commutes less than 12 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 miSarasota: 10% · 11.3 miBradenton: 8% · 12.5 miTampa: 7% · 38 miSt. Petersburg: 4% · 28.3 miFruitville: 3% · 7.7 miSouth Bradenton: 1% · 12.4 miEast Lake-Orient Park: 1% · 40.2 miBrandon: 1% · 35.8 miSouth Sarasota: 1% · 13.4 miSarasota 10%Bradenton 8%Tampa 7%St. Petersburg 4%Fruitville 3%Lakewood Ranch
Lakewood RanchTop destinations (size = commuters)
36%Under 10 mi5,119 residents
24%10–24 mi3,312 residents
22%25–50 mi3,088 residents
18%Over 50 mi2,574 residents

About 18% 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.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Lakewood Ranch

Lakewood Ranch home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Lakewood Ranch, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
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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.

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