Work & commute · Mary Esther

Work & commute in Mary Esther, FL

Most working residents leave Mary Esther for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Fort Walton Beach (25%), Destin (9%) and Wright (9%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

38 of 1,674 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 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 1,636 Mary Esther residents head out of town to work, 38 work right here, and 1,253 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Mary Esther.

1,636live here, work elsewhere

38live and work here

1,253work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Mary Esther goes to work

Fort Walton Beach2.4 mi away

25%422

Destin11.4 mi away

9%157

Wright2.5 mi away

9%148

Niceville13.6 mi away

3%55

Pensacola31.8 mi away

3%55

Miramar Beach18.8 mi away

3%52

Crestview23.7 mi away

3%44

Mary Esther (in town)right here

2%38

Ocean City3.6 mi away

2%28

Tallahassee143.4 mi away

2%27

Everywhere elseother towns and states

39%648

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

How far

How far Mary Esther commutes

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

49%

22%

14%

15%

49%Under 10 mi

22%10–24 mi

14%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Mary Esther is balanced between jobs and homes

0.77jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.77 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Mary Esther are

1,291 jobs are based in Mary Esther. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Mary Esther’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Mary Esther

1,291 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)4%

Trade, transport & utilities34%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less25%

$1,251–$3,333 a month40%

Over $3,333 a month35%

Jobs Mary Esther residents hold

1,674 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month52%

−50%

Jobs based in Mary Esther, 2013 → 2023: 2,578 → 1,291. 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.