Pensacola Metro Report 2014

Early Brain Development

Pensacola Metro Report 2014

The Studer Institute’s staff spent five months researching the material that would become the Pensacola Metro Report. The report looks at data from 1970 through 2013 to reflect economic, demographic, educational and public health trends in the Pensacola metro area, which covers all of Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. The data reflects the progress we have made and the work that remains for our community.

The Good & The Bad
Pensacola has made strong strides since 2000 in rebuilding our economy and community. And there are many bright spots to highlight as the Pensacola metro area finds itself on an upswing.

One the other hand ...
Poverty, low educational attainment and poor health outcomes remain challenges for our community to overcome — and in some cases are spreading.

Who We Are
The western gate to the Sunshine State isn’t growing as fast as it once did. After steeply increasing every decade between 1970 and 2000, our population essentially stagnated. We had been adding an average of 27,900 households every 10 years from 1970-2000. At the current pace, the two-county area will add fewer households in this decade than it has in the last 50 years.

Peer Cities
The Studer Institute selected 11 metro areas to compare with Pensacola. Fort Walton Beach, Panama City and Mobile were included because of their location and size in relation to Pensacola. We also looked for metro areas in the Southeast that are similar in population and economy. Several metro areas in the tables have military installations and draw tourists and retirees.

The labor force participation rate shows the number of jobs in the metro area divided by the number of adults who reside there. The rate could be high because there may be fewer older or younger people per adult.

In Fort Myers, for example, the rate is lower because a large population of retirees brings down the ratio.

Fort Walton Beach, on the other hand, has a relatively small number of retirees compared to other areas (although that is changing as more retirees move to Destin and South Walton), and the higher-paid defense contracting jobs bring in workers who live outside the metro area.

In this report

Early Learning Initiatives

An Early Learning City is community that give parents the tools, advice and support they need to help their children be ready for kindergarten. From healthcare to business, everyone has a part to play.

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