City · Brevard County, Florida

Cape Canaveral, Florida

Cape Canaveral is a city in Brevard County, Florida, part of the Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL metro area. It has 10,006 residents. Cape Canaveral, Florida has a quality-of-life score of 48 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #8,212 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Florida it ranks #355 of 780 cities and towns. It ranks best on comfortable days (high), reading scores (high) and days with unhealthy air (low). It ranks worst on natural hazard risk (high), drug overdose deaths (high) and home price to income ratio (high).

48Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #8,212 of 15,651 cities and towns
Florida: #355 of 780 in FL
Population: 10,006 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 4,503.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 1210250

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

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

Safety42#9,060/15,637
Economy68#4,951/15,631
Housing18#12,328/14,977
Health50#7,847/15,609
Healthcare34#10,254/15,650
Environment73#4,157/15,453
Education76#3,688/15,649
Infrastructure37#9,891/15,650
Community34#10,265/15,651
Leisure & amenities57#6,654/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Cape Canaveral, Florida ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Brevard 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

Comfortable days · high39.8%
97/100Florida 32.4%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationBrevard County value
Reading scores · high3.30
88/100Florida 3.17United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBrevard County value
Days with unhealthy air · low0.0%
84/100Florida 0.2%2025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyBrevard County value
Child care cost burden · low23.5%
82/100Florida 25.9%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBrevard County value
Depression · low20.5%
81/100Florida 18.0%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
New business applications · high17.5 /1k
81/100Florida 27.6 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauBrevard County value

Weaknesses

Natural hazard risk · high95.6
5/100Florida 75.92025Federal Emergency Management AgencyBrevard County value
Drug overdose deaths · high27.8 /100k
12/100Florida 15.5 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataBrevard County value
Home price to income ratio · high5.5×
14/100Florida 4.8×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Injury deaths · high121 /100k
14/100Florida 97 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBrevard County value
Uninsured residents (under 65) · high14.8%
16/100Florida 13.7%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
Rent as share of income · high27.0%
16/100Florida 35.2%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071

Trends

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

Child poverty rateImproving
21.4% (2015-2019) → 7.8% (2020-2024)
−14 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
New homes permittedWorsening
0.8 /1k (2021) → 0.4 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−50%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
50.2% (2015-2019) → 43.4% (2020-2024)
−6.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
4.5× (2015-2019) → 5.5× (2020-2024)
+24%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Median household incomeImproving
$54,653 (2015-2019) → $67,276 (2020-2024)
+23%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent as share of incomeImproving
30.2% (2015-2019) → 27.0% (2020-2024)
−3.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%

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, Cape Canaveral, Florida improved on 1 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 12 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.

Improved1

Household income+23%$54,653 → $67,276

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Cape Canaveral, Florida between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	24.0 min2015-2019	22.7 min2020-2024	−1.3 min	Within the margin of error	63%
Bachelor's degree or higher	35.5%2015-2019	36.2%2020-2024	+0.7 points	Within the margin of error	33%
Broadband subscriptions	85.0%2015-2019	86.4%2020-2024	+1.4 points	Within the margin of error	13%
Effective property tax rate	0.80%2015-2019	0.62%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	53%
High school diploma or higher	93.9%2015-2019	96.2%2020-2024	+2.3 points	Within the margin of error	62%
Home price to income ratio	4.5×2015-2019	5.5×2020-2024	+1.1×	Within the margin of error	20%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4972015-2019	0.4352020-2024	−0.063	Within the margin of error	88%
Median household income	$54,6532015-2019	$67,2762020-2024	+23%	Improved	40%
Poverty rate	10.0%2015-2019	9.6%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	47%
Rent as share of income	30.2%2015-2019	27.0%2020-2024	−3.2 points	Within the margin of error	75%
Rent-burdened households	50.2%2015-2019	43.4%2020-2024	−6.9 points	Within the margin of error	76%
Unemployment rate	4.4%2015-2019	4.0%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	59%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	17.5%2015-2019	14.8%2020-2024	−2.6 points	Within the margin of error	74%

“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 Cape Canaveral, Florida five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Cape Canaveral, 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.

For comparison, Cape Canaveral, Florida itself moved +6 points in standing on average over the same 10 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

10,006 residents (±21)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79
60–69

Income

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

Household income

6,061 households (±350)

Cape Canaveral, Florida
Florida share

Under $25k15%904
$25k–50k24%1,475
$50k–75k15%†933

Homes

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

Owners and renters

6,061 households (±350)

Cape Canaveral, Florida
Florida share

Own59%3,549
Rent41%2,512

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

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

4,720 workers (±475)

Cape Canaveral, Florida
Florida share

Drive alone68%3,224
Carpool3.5%†164
Public transit0.8%†

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 Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, 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 Brevard County, the county holding most of Cape Canaveral's residents.

Brevard County has 15,510 employer establishments, 240 for every 10,000 residents (0.97× the US rate of 248; 0.85× Florida's), with 205,503 paid employees at an average annual pay of $57,834. The Census Bureau also counts 60,649 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 15,510; 60,649 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 240; US 248 · Florida 282
Paid employees: 205,503
Average annual pay: $57,834; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	1,464	22.7	1.09×About typical	14,574	$66,883	3,716
Specialty trade contractors	1,217	18.8	1.22×About typical	9,127	$54,867	3,304
Restaurants and other eating places	1,068	16.5	0.90×About typical	22,830	$22,198	254
Lessors of real estate	912	14.1	1.15×About typical	2,437	$47,077	6,796
Services to buildings and dwellings	704	10.9	1.62×More than typical	3,759	$35,668	4,476
Full-service restaurants	527	8.2	1.06×About typical	12,915	$25,099	105
Offices of physicians	511	7.9	1.22×About typical	5,778	$87,430	589
Management, scientific and technical consulting	477	7.4	1.10×About typical	1,801	$85,579	2,477
Construction of buildings	453	7	0.93×About typical	2,256	$69,442	1,751
Offices of other health practitioners	453	7	1.15×About typical	1,916	$44,528	1,454
Building equipment contractors	445	6.9	1.14×About typical	4,549	$57,227	555
Real estate agents and brokers	444	6.9	1.41×More than typical	688	$45,235	2,677

Rank places for an industry Open Brevard County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 646,015 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.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $38.9M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Cape Canaveral, Florida: $3,886 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $38.9M; −4.6% vs FY2025
Per resident: $3,886; US $1,994
Sole-source: 4.6%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.4%; US 8.8%

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

Top buying agencies

Department of the Navy$15.8M41%
Department of the Air Force$14.4M37%
Department of the Army$4.3M11%
U.S. Customs and Border Protection$2.3M5.8%
Federal Acquisition Service$1.8M4.6%
National Aeronautics and Space Administration$108.3K0.3%
U.S. Coast Guard$104.6K0.3%
USTRANSCOM$99.4K0.3%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

22.2MFY2017
31.5MFY2018
62.8MFY2019
28.6MFY2020
39.9MFY2021
28MFY2022
29.8MFY2023
47.6M

Top industries (NAICS)

Nonresidential building construction · 2362$14.9M38%
Aerospace product and parts manufacturing · 3364$7M18%
Support activities for air transportation · 4881$7M18%
Architectural, engineering, and related services · 5413$4M10%
Other ambulatory health care services · 6219$2.3M5.8%
Scientific research and development services · 5417

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 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 Cape Canaveral, Florida, so they do not add up across cities.

Cape Canaveral, Florida's figures are part of those of Brevard County, FL ($6.7B in FY2026), never added to them: 0.6% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Cape Canaveral is mostly in Brevard County.

See federal money in Brevard 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.

Cape Canaveral, Florida is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Mike HaridopolosR-FL-8 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 1.5%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Brevard County69100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL74

Other cities and towns in Brevard County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/1210250

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends