AreaProfile

Port St. Lucie, FL

Metro Area Profile

522,676 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Port St. Lucie, FL metropolitan area.

53
Area Score
Bottom 13% of 361 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity265th of 361 published metros44
GrowthTop 26% of 440 published metros64
Housing affordability399th of 441 published metros62
ClimateTop 2% of 441 published metros86
Physical resilience419th of 441 published metros13
Access253rd of 441 published metros79
Economic stability344th of 441 published metros39
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published metro profiles: unemployment is 5.2% and the Opportunity signal places Port St. Lucie in the bottom 27%.

Residential permitting has slowed: 4,189 units authorized over the past twelve months, 25% below the prior year.

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

At a glance

Population
522,676
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$74,514
Top 28% nationally
Density
468/sq mi
1115.7 sq mi of land
Median age
47.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
Port St. Lucie, FL
Nearest major airport
DJT
43 mi · President Donald J Trump Intl
Median home value
$364,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.2% is lower than 16% of the 361 measured US metros.

Employment fell 0.8% over the past year, to 229,544 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$1,912$74,514Top 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$974$41,746Top 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate12.0%Bottom 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute31.1 minTop 6%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher30.0%Top 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment229,544Top 31%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-0.3%Bottom 40%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.8%Bottom 46%June 2026
Labor force242,189Top 30%June 2026
Labor force participation54.8%Bottom 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$59,230Bottom 38%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$46,490Bottom 33%2025 OEWS
Metro employment170,820Top 37%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.7%Top 15%June 2026
Unemployment rate5.2%Top 16%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/065.62.7
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.2% in June 2026.
Largest occupations — Port St. Lucie, FL
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons6,210$34,020
Registered Nurses5,310$82,090
Fast Food and Counter Workers4,690$29,130
Waiters and Waitresses4,050$36,250
Cashiers4,050$30,540
General and Operations Managers3,850$94,910

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 $1,580 takes 25% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.9 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
25.4%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.9×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,580
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$364,900
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income4.90Top 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate78.9%Top 6%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±107243,267Top 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$41$1,580Top 7%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$4,395$364,900Top 16%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income25.4%Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate15.6%Top 25%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
64/ 100
Top 26% of 440 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 14% since 2020, reaching 556,336 in 2024.

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

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 1% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 8.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
4,189
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
8.0
Top 13% nationally
Year over year
−25%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.6%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024556k490k
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

9 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 90°F and January a low of 51°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 51.2 inches.

40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station FT PIERCE ST LUCIE CO INTL AP, 18.9 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND6.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation51.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low51°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months91991-2020 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

13 / 100
Physical resilience

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

HurricaneHigh
Strong windModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, wildfire, inland flooding, tornado, heat wave, coastal flooding, drought, earthquake, hail, landslide.

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.

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

8 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 43 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
President Donald J Trump IntlDJT43 mi10,001 ft
Melbourne Orlando IntlMLB62 mi10,181 ft
Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood IntlFLL82 mi8,000 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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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.