Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety61#6,006/15,637
Economy42#9,043/15,631
Housing—
Health34#10,253/15,609
Healthcare22#12,176/15,650
Environment56#6,753/15,453
Education15#13,367/15,650
Infrastructure19#12,744/15,650
Community4#14,944/15,651
Leisure & amenities6#14,631/15,651
Nature & outdoors—

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Babson Park, Florida ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Polk County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Unemployment rate · low0.0%
98/100Florida 3.9%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025
New business applications · high19.8 /1k
89/100Florida 27.6 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauPolk County value
Median Air Quality Index · low34
88/100Florida 422025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyPolk County value
Days with unhealthy air · low0.0%
84/100Florida 0.2%2025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyPolk County value
Comfortable days · high31.2%
84/100Florida 32.4%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationPolk County value
Depression · low20.7%
80/100Florida 18.0%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate

Weaknesses

Hot days · high128 days
3/100Florida 102 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationPolk County value
Rent-burdened households · high100.0%
3/100Florida 60.1%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070High uncertainty
Bachelor's degree or higher · low5.7%
4/100Florida 34.2%United States 35.7%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003High uncertainty
Preventable hospital stays · high4,453 /100k
4/100Florida 3,204 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePolk County value
Restaurants and bars · low4.8 /10k
9/100Florida 9.6 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsPolk County value
Students per teacher · high19.3×
10/100Florida 18.3×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsPolk County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationFalling
1,313 (2015-2019) → 1,093 (2020-2024)
−17%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.2× (2015-2019) → 4.4× (2020-2024)
+102%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Child poverty rateWorsening
17.4% (2015-2019) → 31.7% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
19.6% (2015-2019) → 5.6% (2020-2024)
−14 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
High school diploma or higherWorsening
91.1% (2015-2019) → 79.7% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Poverty rateImproving
23.1% (2015-2019) → 14.4% (2020-2024)
−8.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Babson Park, Florida improved on 0 of 6 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 6 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 6 measures

Change of every measure of Babson Park, Florida between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	22.4 min2015-2019	24.8 min2020-2024	+2.4 min	Within the margin of error	24%
High school diploma or higher	91.1%2015-2019	79.7%2020-2024	−11 points	Within the margin of error	1%
Households subscribed to broadband	77.4%2015-2019	79.8%2020-2024	+2.4 points	Within the margin of error	17%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.5532015-2019	0.4412020-2024	−0.112	Within the margin of error	97%
Median household income	$55,5262015-2019	$48,1772020-2024	−13%	Within the margin of error	2%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Babson Park, Florida five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Babson Park, Florida in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

No place that looked like Babson Park, Florida five years ago has more measures that improved than declined, with a higher standing among its peers today.

For comparison, Babson Park, Florida itself moved −17.2 points in standing on average over the same 5 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

1,093 residents (±256)

Men
Women

80 and over
70–79†
60–69†
50–59†
40–49†
30–39†
20–29†
10–19†
Under 10†

Share of all residents, each sex

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

1,093 residents (±256)

Babson Park, Florida
Florida share

White81%886
Black9.8%†107
Hispanic or Latino9.1%†100
Asian0.0%0
American Indian and Alaska Native0.0%0
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander0.0%0
Other or two or more races0.0%0

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B03002View table on data.census.gov

Education

602 residents (±216)

Babson Park, Florida
Florida share

No high school diploma20%†122
High school or GED48%†289
Some college18%†109
Associate degree8.0%†48
Bachelor's degree5.6%†34
Graduate degree0.0%0

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B15003View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

312 households (±122)

Babson Park, Florida
Florida share

Under $25k24%†76
$25k–50k37%†115
$50k–75k8.3%†26
$75k–100k4.8%†15
$100k–150k15%†46
$150k–200k3.8%†12
$200k or more7.1%†22

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: $50k–75k (−39.9 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

312 households (±122)

Babson Park, Florida
Florida share

Own96%†299
Rent4.2%†13

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+13.4 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

13 households (±17)

Babson Park, Florida
Florida share

Under $75054%†7
$750–1,00046%†6
$1,000–1,5000.0%0

Home values

299 homes (±119)

Babson Park, Florida
Florida share

Under $150k35%†105
$150k–250k42%†127
$250k–400k18%†53

Age of homes

478 homes (±141)

Babson Park, Florida
Florida share

2010 or later2.9%†14
2000–20096.5%†31
1980–199920%†96

Size of homes

478 homes (±141)

Babson Park, Florida
Florida share

Studio0.0%0
1 bedroom6.7%†32
2 bedrooms24%†115

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

497 workers (±173)

Babson Park, Florida
Florida share

Drive alone75%†373
Carpool9.7%†48
Public transit0.0%0
Walk9.9%†49
Bike0.0%0
Work from home2.6%†13
Other2.8%†14

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Drive alone (−18.7 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

484 workers (±168)

Babson Park, Florida
Florida share

Under 15 min40%†194
15–29 min41%†200
30–44 min5.8%†28

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Polk County, the county holding most of Babson Park's residents.

Polk County has 13,992 employer establishments, 170 for every 10,000 residents (0.68× the US rate of 248; 0.60× Florida's), with 232,278 paid employees at an average annual pay of $50,155. The Census Bureau also counts 88,219 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 13,992; 88,219 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 170; US 248 · Florida 282
Paid employees: 232,278
Average annual pay: $50,155; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Polk County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	1,270	15.4	0.99×About typical	10,297	$53,413	5,663
Ambulatory health care services	984	11.9	0.57×Fewer than typical	13,548	$67,645	3,653
Restaurants and other eating places	859	10.4	0.57×Fewer than typical	19,042	$20,803	638
Lessors of real estate	807	9.8	0.79×Fewer than typical	3,342	$40,834	6,352
Services to buildings and dwellings	643	7.8	1.16×About typical	4,128	$37,298	8,171
Truck transportation	486	5.9	1.17×About typical	5,543	$60,710	4,329
Limited-service restaurants	482	5.8	0.73×Fewer than typical	10,584	$18,079	174
Construction of buildings	464	5.6	0.74×Fewer than typical	2,787	$59,732	3,100
Religious organizations	420	5.1	0.92×About typical	3,399	$28,034	—
Building equipment contractors	413	5	0.83×About typical	4,474	$58,069	1,180
Building finishing contractors	350	4.2	1.12×About typical	1,396	$45,054	1,924
Landscaping services	343	4.2	1.19×About typical	2,467	$41,198	2,233

Rank places for an industry Open Polk County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 824,794 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Public schools

Public schools located in Babson Park, Florida and the districts that run them (NCES Common Core of Data). Students per teacher counts full-time-equivalent teachers, not the size of each class.

Babson Park, Florida has 1 public schools with 453 students and 15.6 students per teacher (Florida: 18.1, US: 15.2).

100% of students attend one of its 1 charter schools.

1 schools serve free meals to every student.

Elementary schools: 1
Middle schools: 0
High schools: 0
Students per teacher: 15.6; US: 15.2

School districts

Districts with schools here, by students here.

District	Schools	Students	Spending / student
Polk	1	453	$12,447

Largest schools

School	Grades	Students	Students / teacher	District
Dale R Fair Babson Park ElementaryCharterFree meals for all	K–5	453	15.6	Polk

All 1 schools

Sources

Public schools and school districts (National Center for Education Statistics · U.S. Census Bureau), 2024–25 school year. NCES Common Core of Data and EDGE public school geocodes; U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of School System Finances and cartographic boundary files (places).

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Babson Park, Florida: $0 per resident (US $2,158).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $2,158
Sole-source: —; US 31%
Single offer: —; US 8.9%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

1KFY2021
0FY2022
1.1KFY2023

What was bought

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 19, 2026, loaded Oct 19, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Babson Park, Florida, so they do not add up across cities.

Babson Park, Florida's figures are part of those of Polk County, FL ($54M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Babson Park is mostly in Polk County.

See federal money in Polk County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Babson Park, Florida is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).