Census-designated place · Charlotte County, Florida

Cleveland, Florida

Cleveland is a census-designated place in Charlotte County, Florida, part of the Punta Gorda, FL metro area. It has 2,683 residents. Cleveland, Florida has a quality-of-life score of 33 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,518 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Florida it ranks #514 of 780 cities and towns. It ranks best on unemployment rate (low), reading scores (high) and math scores (high). It ranks worst on rent-burdened households (high), hospital quality rating (low) and hot days (high).

33Low

Quality-of-life score: #10,518 of 15,651 cities and towns
Florida: #514 of 780 in FL
Population: 2,683 (2020-2024)
Land area: 5 mi²
Density: 510.7 /mi²
FIPS code: 1212950

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 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.

Safety53#7,406/15,637
Economy46#8,375/15,631
Housing3#14,511/14,977
Health64#5,673/15,609
Healthcare22#12,247/15,650
Environment34#10,140/15,453
Education71#4,525/15,649
Infrastructure47#8,283/15,650
Community21#12,312/15,651
Leisure & amenities44#8,688/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Cleveland, Florida ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Charlotte 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
Reading scores · high3.42
96/100Florida 3.17United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCharlotte County value
Math scores · high3.47
95/100Florida 3.28United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCharlotte County value
Mammography screening · high56.0%
94/100Florida 46.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCharlotte County value
Distance to an airport · low10 mi
90/100Florida 21 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauCharlotte County value
Time spent in the emergency room · low122 min
86/100Florida 158 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesCharlotte County value

Weaknesses

Rent-burdened households · high77.1%
1/100Florida 60.1%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Hospital quality rating · low1.0
1/100Florida 3.0United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesCharlotte County value
Hot days · high132 days
2/100Florida 102 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationCharlotte County value
Natural hazard risk · high98.5
2/100Florida 75.92025Federal Emergency Management AgencyCharlotte County value
Uninsured residents (under 65) · high30.8%
3/100Florida 13.7%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
Rent as share of income · high42.8%
5/100Florida 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.

PopulationFalling
3,077 (2015-2019) → 2,683 (2020-2024)
−13%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
5.8% (2015-2019) → 30.8% (2020-2024)
+25 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
1.8× (2015-2019) → 3.8× (2020-2024)
+112%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
57.7% (2015-2019) → 77.1% (2020-2024)
+19 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
14.0% (2015-2019) → 28.7% (2020-2024)
+15 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
81.5% (2015-2019) → 90.7% (2020-2024)
+9.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%

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, Cleveland, Florida improved on 1 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 11 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

Bachelor's++15 points14.0% → 28.7%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Cleveland, Florida between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	19.0 min2015-2019	18.1 min2020-2024	−0.9 min	Within the margin of error	59%
Bachelor's degree or higher	14.0%2015-2019	28.7%2020-2024	+15 points	Improved	97%
Broadband subscriptions	81.5%2015-2019	90.7%2020-2024	+9.2 points	Within the margin of error	55%
Effective property tax rate	0.92%2015-2019	0.84%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	31%
High school diploma or higher	92.8%2015-2019	91.5%2020-2024	−1.3 points	Within the margin of error	20%
Home price to income ratio	1.8×2015-2019	3.8×2020-2024	+2.0×	Within the margin of error	4%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4672015-2019	0.4402020-2024	−0.027	Within the margin of error	72%
Median household income	$41,1332015-2019	$47,1572020-2024	+15%	Within the margin of error	23%
Poverty rate	9.5%2015-2019	9.5%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	44%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	41.3%2015-2019	42.8%2020-2024	+1.5 points	Within the margin of error	43%
Rent-burdened households	57.7%2015-2019	77.1%2020-2024	+19 points	Within the margin of error	9%

“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 Cleveland, Florida five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Cleveland, 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, Cleveland, Florida itself moved −4.4 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

2,683 residents (±590)

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

1,509 households (±284)

Cleveland, Florida
Florida share

Under $25k17%†251
$25k–50k35%†533
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,509 households (±284)

Cleveland, Florida
Florida share

Own72%1,080
Rent28%†429

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

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

820 workers (±273)

Cleveland, Florida
Florida share

Drive alone44%†359
Carpool30%†247
Public transit

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 Punta Gorda, 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 Charlotte County, the county holding most of Cleveland's residents.

Charlotte County has 4,601 employer establishments, 222 for every 10,000 residents (0.90× the US rate of 248; 0.79× Florida's), with 44,163 paid employees at an average annual pay of $47,625. The Census Bureau also counts 20,173 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 4,601; 20,173 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 222; US 248 · Florida 282
Paid employees: 44,163
Average annual pay: $47,625; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	529	25.6	1.65×More than typical	3,391	$55,511	1,433
Ambulatory health care services	446	21.6	1.03×About typical	4,277	$78,044	910
Lessors of real estate	346	16.7	1.36×More than typical	828	$45,324	2,732
Restaurants and other eating places	264	12.8	0.70×Fewer than typical	5,826	$24,142	74
Services to buildings and dwellings	262	12.7	1.88×More than typical	1,156	$40,989	1,647
Real estate agents and brokers	212	10.3	2.11×More than typical	430	$48,774	1,192
Offices of physicians	203	9.8	1.52×More than typical	1,789	$98,270	132
Construction of buildings	199	9.6	1.27×More than typical	793	$55,392	893
Building equipment contractors	198	9.6	1.59×More than typical	1,244	$56,037	250
Building finishing contractors	151	7.3	1.92×More than typical	523	$40,402	544
Full-service restaurants	142	6.9	0.89×About typical	3,665	$27,372	35
Management, scientific and technical consulting	122	5.9	0.88×About typical	259	$58,255	705

Rank places for an industry Open Charlotte County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 206,814 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 $186.3K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Cleveland, Florida: $69.44 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $186.3K; +142% vs FY2025
Per resident: $69.44; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; 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

Transportation Security Administration$176.5K95%
Department of Veterans Affairs$9,3215.0%
United States Mint$5220.3%
Agricultural Research Service$3160.2%
Federal Prison System / Bureau of Prisons$1650.1%
Defense Logistics Agency$71.160.0%

Top recipients

AVIATION SECURITY MANAGEMENT LLC$176.5K95%
AMERICAN SURGICAL INSTRUMENT REPAIR LLC$9,3925.0%
SANDERS RON$5220.3%
MARDEN INDUSTRIES, INC.$3160.2%
AIR CRITICAL CARE, LLC$1650.1%

Spending by fiscal year

58KFY2017
137.2KFY2018
114.5KFY2019
98.3KFY2020
75.7KFY2021
118.3KFY2022
181.9KFY2023
145.9K

Top industries (NAICS)

Investigation and security services · 5616$176.5K95%
Electronic and precision equipment repair and maintenance · 8112$5,8423.1%
Medical equipment and supplies manufacturing · 3391$3,4781.9%
Independent artists, writers, and performers · 7115$5220.3%
Agriculture, construction, and mining machinery manufacturing · 3331$3160.2%
Other ambulatory health care services · 6219$165

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 Cleveland, Florida, so they do not add up across cities.

Cleveland, Florida's figures are part of those of Charlotte County, FL ($19.4M in FY2026), never added to them: 1.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Charlotte 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.

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

House

W. Gregory SteubeR-FL-17 · 100% of residentsWith party 98%Missed 3.1%

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.

Charlotte County59100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Punta Gorda, FL56

Other cities and towns in Charlotte 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
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/1212950

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends