Charlotte County, FL

County Profile

201,064 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Charlotte County, FL.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

47out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 12% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity1,084th of 1,463 counties measured43
Schools831st of 1,377 counties measured43
GrowthTop 16% of 1,453 counties measured68
Housing affordability1,394th of 1,462 counties measured45
ClimateTop 7% of 1,463 counties measured80
Physical resilience1,454th of 1,463 counties measured5
AccessTop 36% of 1,463 counties measured87
Economic stability840th of 1,463 counties measured56
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 5.8% and the Opportunity signal places Charlotte County in the bottom 26%.

In the public schools here, 59% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 17.3 students for every teacher.

3,186 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 10% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
201,064
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$69,952
Top 37% nationally
Density
295/sq mi
681.1 sq mi of land
Median age
59.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Charlotte County
Florida
Metro area
Nearest major airport
RSW
30 mi · Southwest Florida Intl
Median home value
$328,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.8% — higher than in all but 9% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 1.1% over the past year, to 72,599 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$97,21991st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$70,11777th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$1,6822024 ACS 5-Year$69,952Top 37%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,2542024 ACS 5-Year$42,592Top 18%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$57,454Top 45%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year8.8%Top 19%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year28.7 minBottom 30%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year27.0%Top 31%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year71.7%19th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202672,599Top 30%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+1.1%Top 36%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−1.1%Bottom 40%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202677,09970th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year69.6%Bottom 25%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%44th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.6%Bottom 13%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20265.8%Bottom 9%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year16.2%90th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/076.53.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.8% in July 2026. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202470k58k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $69,952 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Punta Gorda, FL

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons2,720$34,290
Waiters and Waitresses1,780$36,360
Cashiers1,640$30,770
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,570$29,100
Registered Nurses1,430$80,410
General and Operations Managers1,380$89,820

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

59% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 56% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 17.3 students for every full-time teacher across 21 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
23
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
17.3
across 21 of them
Math proficiency
59.1%
Top 50% in Florida
Reading proficiency
56.0%
Bottom 48% in Florida
The 12 largest of 23 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Charlotte High SchoolCHARLOTTE1,87220.655%51%
Port Charlotte High SchoolCHARLOTTE1,73021.143%42%
Lemon Bay High SchoolCHARLOTTE1,34320.366%65%
Punta Gorda Middle SchoolCHARLOTTE1,09819.360%48%
Babcock Neighborhood School · charterCHARLOTTE1,05316.254%58%
Port Charlotte Middle SchoolCHARLOTTE85819.171%56%
East Elementary SchoolCHARLOTTE81416.670%68%
Deep Creek Elementary SchoolCHARLOTTE78115.672%69%
Liberty Elementary SchoolCHARLOTTE76415.966%58%
Neil Armstrong Elementary SchoolCHARLOTTE76315.364%65%
Meadow Park Elementary SchoolCHARLOTTE70815.460%58%
Murdock Middle SchoolCHARLOTTE65619.346%48%

42.5% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Florida’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 1% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 98.8, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Punta Gorda, FL Metro Area is up 26% over five years, but down 0.2% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $2,785 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.85% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,470, close to the $1,464 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,470 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $58,800 a year, about 84% of the median household income here of $69,952.

The typical renter household here spends 36% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,464 a month.

A median home at $328,900 costs 4.4 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $74,023, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
98.8

Prices here run about 1% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Punta Gorda, FL Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
35.9%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.4×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,470
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,464
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$328,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Charlotte County’s median household income of $69,952, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Punta Gorda, FL Metro Area’s figure202398.8Bottom 30%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Punta Gorda, FL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2−0.2%4th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Punta Gorda, FL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+26.3%6th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Punta Gorda, FL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+88.3%39th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year4.4Bottom 7%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year83.8%94th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±902024 ACS 5-Year118,67992nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,167Bottom 29%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,041Bottom 23%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,470Bottom 26%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$592024 ACS 5-Year$1,464Bottom 8%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$7,1402024 ACS 5-Year$328,90085th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$602024 ACS 5-Year$2,78582nd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$2,1552024 ACS 5-Year$74,023Bottom 44%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.03%2024 ACS 5-Year0.85%54th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year35.9%Bottom 3%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1,0152024 ACS 5-Year18,59599th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year15.7%89th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year8.0%42nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1,1892024 ACS 5-Year28,13798th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

68/ 100
Top 16% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 13% since 2020, reaching 212,122 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 3,015 units authorized in 2025, 34% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 3,186 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 5% are in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Charlotte County gained about 2.5% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $97,219, above the $70,117 of households that moved out.

At 15.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
3,186
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
15.8
Top 1% nationally
Year over year
−10%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
4.7%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024212k188k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+2.5%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
56%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$97,219
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$70,117
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Sarasota County, FL 2,434 people · 15% of arrivals
  2. Lee County, FL 1,830 people · 11% of arrivals
  3. Miami-Dade County, FL 309 people · 1.9% of arrivals
  4. Manatee County, FL 289 people · 1.8% of arrivals
  5. Broward County, FL 263 people · 1.6% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Sarasota County, FL 2,173 people · 17% of departures
  2. Lee County, FL 852 people · 6.8% of departures
  3. DeSoto County, FL 407 people · 3.2% of departures
  4. Hillsborough County, FL 282 people · 2.3% of departures
  5. Manatee County, FL 274 people · 2.2% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420256k3k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−47%).

Weather & climate

8 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 93°F and January a low of 51°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 53.0 inches.

40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station PUNTA GORDA CHARLOTTE CO AP, 1.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND9.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals53.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals51°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals93°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals81991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals21°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

5 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, inland flooding and coastal flooding, with hurricane alone responsible for 76% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

HurricaneHigh
LightningModerate
WildfireModerate
Coastal floodingElevated
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: inland flooding, heat wave, strong wind, tornado, drought, earthquake, landslide, hail, winter weather, tsunami, volcanic activity, ice storm, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Charlotte County records 4.9 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 17.9 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 11.6 per 100,000 residents in Charlotte County.

Homicide
4.9
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
17.9
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
11.6
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
22.3
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Charlotte County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

6 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Southwest Florida Intl at 30 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year92.0%Top 14%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle30 miTop 42%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle6Top 13%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year5.7%Top 15%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Southwest Florida IntlRSW30 mi12,000 ft
Sarasota/Bradenton IntlSRQ48 mi9,500 ft
Lakeland Linder IntlLAL75 mi8,500 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
47
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—

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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.