Work & commute · South Bay

Work & commute in South Bay, FL

Most working residents leave South Bay for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Belle Glade (11%), Palm Springs (9%) and West Palm Beach (6%). Half commute less than 40 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

78 of 1,406 working residents

Typical commute

40 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

33 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 1,328 South Bay residents head out of town to work, 78 work right here, and 853 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in South Bay.

1,328live here, work elsewhere

78live and work here

853work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where South Bay goes to work

Belle Glade4.3 mi away

11%151

Palm Springs39.5 mi away

9%122

West Palm Beach37.8 mi away

6%90

South Bay (in town)right here

6%78

Fort Lauderdale52.5 mi away

4%55

Clewiston13.3 mi away

3%44

Miami71 mi away

2%29

Riviera Beach41.2 mi away

2%22

Pahokee10.2 mi away

1%17

Hollywood57.6 mi away

1%16

Everywhere elseother towns and states

56%782

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

How far

How far South Bay commutes

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

22%

40%

33%

22%Under 10 mi

5%10–24 mi

40%25–50 mi

33%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

South Bay is a commuter town

0.66jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in South Bay are

931 jobs are based in South Bay. Here is what they are, next to the jobs South Bay’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in South Bay

931 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)29%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month60%

Jobs South Bay residents hold

1,406 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month52%

−10%

Jobs based in South Bay, 2013 → 2023: 1,032 → 931. 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.