AreaProfile

Estero, Florida

Area Profile

37,858 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Estero, in Lee County.

55
Area Score
Bottom 23% of 1,482 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity1021st of 1,567 published cities49
GrowthTop 29% of 1,503 published cities62
Housing affordability967th of 1,876 published cities74
ClimateTop 15% of 1,876 published cities82
Physical resilience1817th of 1,849 published cities5
AccessTop 36% of 1,876 published cities97
Economic stability1761st of 1,876 published cities32
The quick read

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 395 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 23% on the prior year.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by hurricane, coastal flooding and lightning.

A major airport is 8 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
37,858
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$104,102
Top 17% nationally
Density
1,553/sq mi
24.4 sq mi of land
Median age
66.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Lee County
Florida
Metro area
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL
Nearest major airport
RSW
8 mi · Southwest Florida Intl
Median home value
$461,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.4% is lower than 17% of the 1,567 measured US cities.

Employment fell 0.7% over the past year, to 13,321 employed residents.

51% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 89% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$7,413$104,102Top 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$5,809$75,647Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate7.7%Bottom 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute27.8 minTop 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher50.8%Top 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment13,321Bottom 9%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-1.8%Bottom 21%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.7%Top 44%June 2026
Labor force14,075Bottom 9%June 2026
Labor force participation40.1%Bottom 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$60,050Bottom 14%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$46,780Bottom 15%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.7%Top 19%June 2026
Unemployment rate5.4%Top 17%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/065.93.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.4% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024104k94k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $104,102 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 — Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons12,220$34,650
Registered Nurses8,700$82,860
Waiters and Waitresses7,980$36,660
Fast Food and Counter Workers7,260$29,360
General and Operations Managers7,150$94,730
Cashiers6,950$30,530

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.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,920 takes 22% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.4 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
22.1%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.4×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,920
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$461,900
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income4.44Top 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate86.0%Top 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±53326,937Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$104$1,920Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$14,445$461,900Top 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income22.1%Top 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate31.1%Top 12%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
62/ 100
Top 29% of 1,503 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing — 2 consecutive years, measured from 2020 to 2025.

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 4% since 2020, reaching 38,443 in 2024.

84% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 10.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
395
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
10.4
Top 12% nationally
Year over year
+23%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
83.5%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202438k37k
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.
Housing units permitted per year
20202022202320242025428108
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+296%).

Weather & climate

8 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 91°F and January a low of 54°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 53.4 inches.

40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station FT MYERS SW FL RGNL AP, 8.1 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND10.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation53.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low54°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months81991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing19°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

5 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, coastal flooding and lightning.

HurricaneHigh
LightningModerate
Coastal floodingElevated
WildfireModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: inland flooding, heat wave, tornado, strong wind, drought, landslide, earthquake, hail.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 8 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Southwest Florida IntlRSW8 mi12,000 ft
Dade-Collier Training and TransitionTNT68 mi10,499 ft
Sarasota/Bradenton IntlSRQ82 mi9,500 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
55
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Other cities in Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
Cape CoralLee County215,53653vs Estero
Lehigh AcresLee County132,353vs Estero
Fort MyersLee County95,05150vs Estero
Bonita SpringsLee County55,90452vs Estero
North Fort MyersLee County44,993vs Estero

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 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 browse every source.

ZIP codes in Estero

1 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
3392831,926$102,62454