Work & commute · Winter Haven

Work & commute in Winter Haven, FL

Most working residents leave Winter Haven for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are Lakeland (10%), Bartow (7%) and Orlando (5%). Half commute less than 21 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13%

3,175 of 23,831 working residents

Typical commute

21 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 20,656 Winter Haven residents head out of town to work, 3,175 work right here, and 23,535 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Winter Haven.

20,656live here, work elsewhere

3,175live and work here

23,535work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Winter Haven goes to work

Winter Haven (in town)right here

13%3,175

Lakeland13.6 mi away

10%2,372

Bartow12.2 mi away

7%1,774

Orlando38.6 mi away

5%1,265

Lake Buena Vista26.1 mi away

3%746

Tampa45.6 mi away

3%665

Auburndale5.9 mi away

3%599

Haines City8.5 mi away

2%525

Lake Wales11.9 mi away

2%403

Jacksonville158.3 mi away

1%255

Everywhere elseother towns and states

51%12,052

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

How far

How far Winter Haven commutes

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

26%

29%

24%

21%

26%Under 10 mi

29%10–24 mi

24%25–50 mi

21%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Winter Haven is balanced between jobs and homes

1.12jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.12 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Winter Haven are

26,710 jobs are based in Winter Haven. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Winter Haven’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Winter Haven

26,710 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities26%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month39%

Over $3,333 a month45%

Jobs Winter Haven residents hold

23,831 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month51%

+11%

Jobs based in Winter Haven, 2013 → 2023: 24,096 → 26,710. 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.