Merritt Island is a medium-sized coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Florida. With a population of 34,518 people and 14 associated neighborhoods, Merritt Island is the 99th largest community in Florida.Unlike some towns where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Merritt Island is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Merritt Island is a town of professionals, sales and office workers, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Merritt Island who work in management occupations (11.65%), sales jobs (9.86%), and office and administrative support (9.79%). Also of interest is that Merritt Island has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 14.64% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. One of the nice things about Merritt Island is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities. The citizens of Merritt Island are among the most well-educated in the nation: 41.50% of adults in Merritt Island have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree, whereas the average US city has 21.84% holding at least a bachelor's degree. The per capita income in Merritt Island in 2022 was $48,751, which is upper middle income relative to Florida, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $195,004 for a family of four. However, Merritt Island contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Merritt Island is a somewhat ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Merritt Island home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Merritt Island residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Merritt Island include English, German, Irish, Italian, and Polish. The most common language spoken in Merritt Island is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Tagalog.
