Wildwood-The Villages, FL

Metro Area Profile

143,408 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Wildwood-The Villages, FL metropolitan area.

62out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 41% of 379 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 47% of 379 published metros57
GrowthTop 2% of 821 published metros86
Housing affordability699th of 822 published metros73
ClimateTop 4% of 822 published metros81
Physical resilience701st of 822 published metros26
Access441st of 822 published metros74
Economic stability541st of 822 published metros40
The quick read

Unemployment is 7.8% and median household income $76,508, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published metro profiles.

Buying strains local incomes far more than renting does — the median home is 5.0 times median household income, against a historic benchmark near three — while rent takes 20% of it.

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

At a glance

Population
143,408
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$76,508
Top 23% nationally
Density
257/sq mi
557.1 sq mi of land
Median age
68.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
Wildwood-The Villages, FL
Nearest major airport
MCO
50 mi · Orlando Intl
Median home value
$385,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 7.8% is lower than 2% of the 379 measured US metros.

Employment grew 0.7% over the past year, to 32,714 employed residents.

35% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 81% of measured US metros.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$3,168$76,508Top 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,075$49,030Top 7%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate9.7%Bottom 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute31.4 minTop 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher35.3%Top 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment32,714Bottom 2%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)2.7%Top 17%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)0.7%Top 18%June 2026
Labor force35,491Bottom 2%June 2026
Labor force participation25.8%Bottom 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$58,950Bottom 38%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$45,830Bottom 28%2025 OEWS
Metro employment41,300Bottom 8%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)1.1%Top 3%June 2026
Unemployment rate7.8%Top 2%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/067.84.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 7.8% 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 — Wildwood-The Villages, FL
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons1,400$34,290
Waiters and Waitresses1,170$36,340
Cashiers1,160$30,450
Correctional Officers and Jailers980$67,770
Registered Nurses960$77,110
Fast Food and Counter Workers930$28,810

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 $1,269 takes 20% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 5.0 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
19.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.0×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,269
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$385,400
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income5.04Top 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate87.6%Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±10584,068Top 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$119$1,269Top 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$9,118$385,400Top 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income19.9%Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate16.4%Top 22%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
86/ 100
Top 2% 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 19% since 2020, reaching 154,693 in 2024.

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

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 3% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 27.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
3,936
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
27.4
Top 1% nationally
Year over year
+4%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
3.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024155k130k
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 91°F and January a low of 49°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 43.8 inches.

40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station LEESBURG MUNI AP, 17.4 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND7.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation43.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low49°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months81991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing24°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

26 / 100
Physical resilience

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

HurricaneElevated
LightningModerate
WildfireModerate
Strong windElevated
Cold waveModerate

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

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

8 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 50 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Orlando IntlMCO50 mi10,000 ft
Lakeland Linder IntlLAL50 mi8,500 ft
Orlando Sanford IntlSFB51 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
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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 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.