33881Winter Haven, Florida

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 33881.

51out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 18% of 5,298 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity4949th of 6,210 ZIP areas measured40
Schools3862nd of 4,422 ZIP areas measured22
GrowthTop 12% of 5,428 ZIP areas measured73
Housing affordability3412th of 6,685 ZIP areas measured79
ClimateTop 19% of 6,789 ZIP areas measured79
Physical resilience5772nd of 6,709 ZIP areas measured20
AccessTop 48% of 6,791 ZIP areas measured93
Economic stability6333rd of 6,742 ZIP areas measured27
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published ZIP profiles: unemployment is 5.8% and the Opportunity signal places 33881 in the bottom 20%.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by hurricane, strong wind and tornado.

A major airport is 20 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
40,808
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$57,024
Bottom 25% nationally
Density
1,863/sq mi
21.9 sq mi of land
Median age
40.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Winter Haven
Florida
Metro area
Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL
Nearest major airport
LAL
20 mi · Lakeland Linder Intl
Median home value
$194,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.8% is lower than 11% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment grew 0.4% over the past year, to 24,097 employed residents.

Median household income of $57,024 is below 75% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$2,970$57,024Bottom 25%of 31,2952024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,292$28,798Bottom 23%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate16.7%Top 26%of 32,9702024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute33.3 minTop 23%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher17.4%Bottom 32%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Employment24,097Bottom 25%of 6,544June 2026
Employment change (3 years)1.7%Top 27%of 6,542June 2026
Employment change (year over year)0.4%Top 21%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force25,576Bottom 25%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force participation51.3%Bottom 22%of 33,2522024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$57,070Bottom 10%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Median annual wage$46,140Bottom 12%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.6%Top 27%of 6,544June 2026
Unemployment rate5.8%Top 11%of 6,544June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202457k46k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $57,024 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 — Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Stockers and Order Fillers9,400$39,690
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand8,440$42,800
Retail Salespersons8,220$31,820
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers7,820$57,090
Fast Food and Counter Workers7,380$28,050
Registered Nurses6,140$84,030

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 does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Winter Haven, FL, the city containing this ZIP code.

39% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 42% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 18.7 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
10
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
18.7
across all schools here
Math proficiency
39.1%
Bottom 21% in Florida
Reading proficiency
42.2%
Bottom 23% in Florida
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
FRED G. GARNER ACADEMYPOLK81717.829%30%
JEWETT SCHOOL OF THE ARTSPOLK74616.646%49%
WESTWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOLPOLK71216.222%37%
JEWETT MIDDLE ACADEMY MAGNETPOLK56621.857%52%
ELBERT ELEMENTARY SCHOOLPOLK54918.937%37%
CHAIN OF LAKES COLLEGIATE HIGH · charterPOLK34048.6
HARTRIDGE ACADEMY · charterPOLK20018.270%70%
RIDGE TECHNICAL ACADEMYPOLK10312.9
RIDGE TEEN PARENT PROGRAMPOLK11
WINTER HAVEN HEAD STARTPOLK0

69.5% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Florida’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,184 takes 25% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.4 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
24.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.4×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,184
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$194,700
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income3.41Top 41%of 30,4042024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate71.8%Bottom 33%of 32,9102024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±93217,920Top 5%of 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$57$1,184Top 36%of 26,6182024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$29,825$194,700Bottom 43%of 30,9412024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income24.9%Top 15%of 26,4702024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate15.9%Top 35%of 33,0282024 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
73/ 100
Top 12% of 5,428 published city profiles

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.

At 17.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
948
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
17.2
Top 3% nationally
Year over year
−12%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
20.5%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Winter Haven, FL, the city containing this ZIP code.

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 52°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 46.1 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 39, in the Good band, and one day a year passes 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station WINTER HAVEN GILBERT AP, 3.2 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND7.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index58.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation46.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low52°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high93°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months81991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10012024 calendar year
Median air quality index39.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing22°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
39
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
58
90th percentile index
Days above 100
1
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

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. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

20 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, strong wind and tornado.

Strong windHigh
HurricaneElevated
WildfireModerate
TornadoModerate
Cold waveModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, inland flooding, heat wave, hail, drought, earthquake.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Polk County records 2.8 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 10.0 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 14.4 per 100,000 residents in Polk County.

Homicide
2.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
10.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
14.4
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
13.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Polk County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around 33881 rather than 33881 itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

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.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences 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. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
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

7 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 20 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Lakeland Linder IntlLAL20 mi8,500 ft
Orlando IntlMCO35 mi10,000 ft
Tampa IntlTPA51 mi11,002 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
51
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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)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 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.

33881 vs Winter Haven

How this ZIP area compares with Winter Haven as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

33881
Winter Haven
Median household income
$57,024
vs
$59,648
Per capita income
$28,798
vs
$30,632
Population density
1,863/sq mi
vs
1,661/sq mi
Median home value
$194,700
vs
$269,800
Median gross rent
$1,184
vs
$1,246
Homeownership rate
71.8%
vs
63.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher
17.4%
vs
22.0%
Poverty rate
16.7%
vs
16.4%
Median age
40.6
vs
40.1

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.