AreaProfile

Gateway, Florida

Area Profile

11,176 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Gateway, in Lee County.

Area Score unavailable

Missing required signal: growth. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity2089th of 3,904 published cities55
Housing affordability2202nd of 4,223 published cities79
ClimateTop 12% of 4,223 published cities82
Physical resilience4123rd of 4,182 published cities5
AccessTop 19% of 4,226 published cities98
Economic stability2294th of 4,226 published cities58
The quick read

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

A major airport is 3 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
11,176
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$107,484
Top 15% nationally
Density
2,082/sq mi
5.4 sq mi of land
Median age
41.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Lee County
Florida
Metro area
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL
Nearest major airport
RSW
3 mi · Southwest Florida Intl
Median home value
$453,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.1% is lower than 22% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment fell 0.7% over the past year, to 355,363 employed residents.

48% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 87% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$9,985$107,484Top 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$6,617$56,493Top 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate3.6%Bottom 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute32.0 minTop 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher47.5%Top 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment355,363Top 20%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)0.0%Top 48%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.7%Top 49%June 2026
Labor force374,577Top 20%June 2026
Labor force participation62.1%Top 45%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)0.8%Top 14%June 2026
Unemployment rate5.1%Top 22%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024110k97k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $107,484 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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Lee County, FL, which contains this city.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,886 takes 21% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.2 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
21.1%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.2×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,886
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$453,900
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income4.22Top 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate84.9%Top 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4375,417Top 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$175$1,886Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$23,651$453,900Top 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income21.1%Top 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate19.8%Top 24%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 →

No building-permit activity is published for this location by the Census Building Permits Survey.

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, 3.1 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 wildfire.

HurricaneHigh
Coastal floodingElevated
WildfireModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, 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.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. Reported crime is also easy to misread: agency participation varies year to year, and a city that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

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

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Southwest Florida IntlRSW3 mi12,000 ft
Dade-Collier Training and TransitionTNT72 mi10,499 ft
Sarasota/Bradenton IntlSRQ75 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
Your Score

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Other cities in Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
Cape CoralLee County215,53653vs Gateway
Lehigh AcresLee County132,353vs Gateway
Fort MyersLee County95,05145vs Gateway
Bonita SpringsLee County55,90451vs Gateway
North Fort MyersLee County44,993vs Gateway
EsteroLee County37,85853vs Gateway
San Carlos ParkLee County19,159vs Gateway
VillasLee County13,644vs Gateway
IonaLee County13,631vs Gateway
Cypress LakeLee County13,032vs Gateway

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)
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.