Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetFL-SANIBEL-FL · Sanibel, FL 6,402 pop · income 88th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Sanibel
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Sanibel on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Dillon · lowest
34,964
Dillon · lowest
34,964 median HH income
16.3% of the leader · rank #1
Conicville · near
122,656
Conicville · near
122,656 median HH income
57.2% of the leader · rank #2
West Point · near
122,689
West Point · near
122,689 median HH income
57.2% of the leader · rank #3
Huxley · near
122,716
Huxley · near
122,716 median HH income
57.2% of the leader · rank #4
Sanibel · this city
122,730
Sanibel · this city
122,730 median HH income
57.2% of the leader · rank #5
Laguna Hills · near
122,778
Laguna Hills · near
122,778 median HH income
57.2% of the leader · rank #6
Braddock · highest
214,563
Braddock · highest
214,563 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Sanibel on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 6,402.
Nationally, Sanibel sits in the 88th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
88th
percentile, household income
96th
percentile, home value
73rd
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Sanibel, FL
Florida's Sanibel is a small town, with 6,402 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $122,730 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 5.2%. Home values in Sanibel run a median of $912,200, and the median resident age is 68.2 years. Educational attainment runs 61.6% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 32.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 46 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Building Boom), up 171% from five years earlier.
Florida carries a cost-of-living premium: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Florida at 103.4 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Above Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,526 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Florida run around $225, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Natural-hazard exposure scores 75.7 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Sanibel's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from population change to work and mobility to schools and households to housing and income to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Sanibel, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, local building permits.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Is Sanibel growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -85 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.3% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 46 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
What does the journey to work look like in Sanibel?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 53.7%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 61.6% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
Which cities make useful reference points for Sanibel?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
Within Florida, the closest population matches are High Springs (6,396 residents, $80,973 income); River Park (6,415 residents, $57,370 income); Ocean (6,480 residents, $56,160 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Braddock, VA (6,404 residents); Douglas, WY (6,400 residents); Fruitland, ID (6,405 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Sanibel?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 7.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.2%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
7.4×
Home value
$912,200
Household income
$122,730
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Florida average
B-
City profile score · Sanibel, FL
67/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Bachelor's+ share A+
61.6%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income A
$122,730
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate C+
5.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Cost of living F
103.4 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Sanibel profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 93/100 (A+) · 61.6%
Household income: 87/100 (A) · $122,730
Poverty rate: 64/100 (C+) · 5.2%
Cost of living: 25/100 (F) · 103.4 index
How does Sanibel compare to other US cities?
Sanibel measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income88% higher than other cities
Home value96% pricier than other cities
Median rent73% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Sanibel against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Florida only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Florida-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Sanibel near the bottom of Florida's cities
Among the 930 Florida cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Sanibel ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Sanibel only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#67 of 903
93rd percentile in Florida
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 930
0th percentile in Florida
Median Home Value
#28 of 894
97th percentile in Florida
Poverty Rate
#612 of 930
34th percentile in Florida
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#45 of 930
95th percentile in Florida
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Florida only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
88th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Sanibel's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$912,2004th percentilemore affordable than 4% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Sanibel's home-value-to-income ratio: 7.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,862 of 15,516
More affordable than 4% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,916 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 7.4×, Sanibel sits in the pressured band:
national rank #14,862 of 15,516 and #10,916 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$122,730Sanibel, FL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Sanibel, FL median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Sanibel, FL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)61.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)32.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
6,402
Median Income
$122,730
Median Home Value
$912,200
Median Age
68.2
Poverty Rate
5.2%
Labor force participation
32.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
61.6%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Sanibel's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
6,388 residents
2021
6,443 residents
2022
6,542 residents
2023
6,435 residents
2024
6,378 residents
2025
6,303 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
46
housing units authorized
Single-Family
46
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
7.2
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
17
17
0
$11.4M
2020
18
18
0
$18.1M
2021
12
12
0
$14.2M
2022
20
20
0
$24.5M
2023
28
28
0
$39.3M
2024
46
46
0
$57.8M
Permit volume increased 171% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
53.7%
Carpool
8.6%
Public Transit
0.3%
Walk
7.0%
Work from Home
29.9%
Based on 1,935 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Florida statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $225
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Florida at $225 (electricity about $145 , water and sewer about $55 ).
These are Florida statewide averages, not a meter reading for Sanibel. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Florida's BEA cost-of-living index is 103.4 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Sanibel is $1,526/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Florida statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 75.7 / 100 (High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Florida statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Sanibel sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Sanibel compares to similar-size Florida cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.