Top Employers in Polk County

Central Florida’s Polk County has a number of public and private employers with employment in excess of 1,000. Many prominent companies are also headquartered in Polk County with operations across Florida and the United States (Source: Department of Economic Opportunity).

1.     Publix Super Markets Inc.
2.     Polk County School Board
3.     Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
4.     Lakeland Regional Medical Center
5.     Winter Haven Hospital Inc.
6.     City of Lakeland
7.     GEICO
8.     State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.
9.     The Mosaic Co.
10.     Watson Clinic LLP

Jobs by Industry

Job growth has expanded in Health Care, Private Education, and Hospitality industries, while contracting in the more traditional goods-producing industries like manufacturing and construction. (Source: Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation.)

Job Growth by Industry

Total Non-Agricultural Employment in Polk County

Percent Change in Job Growth

Annual Job Creation

Municipality Labor Force

Estimates of labor market data like unemployment rates or wage levels are only available for smaller municipalities from Census data. The 2010 Census revealed that Lakeland had the largest labor force while Fort Meade had the highest unemployment rate.

Municipality Unemployment Rate

Available Civilian Labor Force

The size of the labor force is estimated at 271,500.

Total Civilian Employment

The total number of employed civilians (salaried and self-employed) stands at 245,000.

Unemployment Rate

Polk County’s unemployment rate now stands at 8.3% (Feb. 2013).  After a steady decline since August of last year, the unemployment rate increased in the summer months but has again declined in recent months.  (Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Unemployed Workers

The number of unemployed workers decreased to 22,200 in February, down from an 2012 peak of 29,308 in July.

Civilian Labor Force Table