Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL

Metro Area Profile

817,666 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL metropolitan area.

52out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 10% of 379 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity250th of 379 published metros48
GrowthTop 19% of 821 published metros70
Housing affordability777th of 822 published metros60
ClimateTop 5% of 822 published metros81
Physical resilience815th of 822 published metros5
AccessTop 14% of 822 published metros95
Economic stability635th of 822 published metros32
The quick read

Residential permitting has slowed: 11,074 units authorized over the past twelve months, 29% below the prior year.

Housing sits below most published city profiles for affordability: rent takes 27% of median household income and the median home is 4.8 times it — each just short of the thresholds that would count as strained, but both toward the costly end.

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

At a glance

Population
817,666
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$76,107
Top 25% nationally
Density
1,047/sq mi
781.2 sq mi of land
Median age
49.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL
Nearest major airport
RSW
14 mi · Southwest Florida Intl
Median home value
$362,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.1% is lower than 19% of the 379 measured US metros.

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

31% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 71% of measured US metros.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$1,463$76,107Top 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$637$44,931Top 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate12.0%Bottom 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute31.5 minTop 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher31.2%Top 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment355,363Top 20%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)0.0%Bottom 47%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.7%Top 50%June 2026
Labor force374,577Top 20%June 2026
Labor force participation53.6%Bottom 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$60,050Bottom 44%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$46,780Bottom 39%2025 OEWS
Metro employment304,790Top 21%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.8%Top 11%June 2026
Unemployment rate5.1%Top 19%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/065.13.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.1% in June 2026. 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.
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 $1,712 takes 27% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.8 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
27.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.8×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,712
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$362,200
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income4.76Top 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate74.3%Top 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±174441,194Top 6%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$17$1,712Top 4%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$3,248$362,200Top 16%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income27.0%Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate25.7%Top 6%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
70/ 100
Top 19% of 821 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2024 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 12% since 2020, reaching 860,959 in 2024.

Population is still rising, but more slowly than in the preceding year.

At 13.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
11K
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
13.5
Top 2% nationally
Year over year
−29%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
25.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024861k766k
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.

Weather & climate

8 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 92°F and January a low of 54°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 57.4 inches.

40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station FT MYERS PAGE FLD AP, 7.7 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND10.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation57.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low54°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high92°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. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. 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.

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

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 14 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Southwest Florida IntlRSW14 mi12,000 ft
Sarasota/Bradenton IntlSRQ67 mi9,500 ft
Dade-Collier Training and TransitionTNT83 mi10,499 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
52
Your Score

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

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 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.