Income, poverty and jobs in Fellsmere — Fellsmere, Florida

The median Fellsmere household earns $55,893 a year, about $17,600 less than the Indian River County median of $73,491, in Census ACS 2020-2024 estimates.

That median comes from the Fellsmere DP03 economic profile and the S1901 income table, which also gives a mean household income of $72,447. Median family income in Fellsmere is $52,128. The margin on the household median is $15,377, wide enough that the true Fellsmere figure could sit anywhere from about $40,500 to $71,300, so the gap with the county is real but its exact size is uncertain.

Per capita income shows the widest gap. Fellsmere's $19,853 per person is well under half the county figure of $48,370 and the Florida figure of $42,609, because Fellsmere households are large: the same household income is shared among more people. In Sebastian, the same survey puts the median household income at $69,409.

Fellsmere incomes cluster in two bands: 22.9 percent of households take in $100,000 to $149,999, while 29.2 percent fall between $15,000 and $34,999.

In the Fellsmere income distribution, 11.6 percent of households earn $15,000 to $24,999 and 17.6 percent earn $25,000 to $34,999 (the 29.2 percent above is their sum). The survey estimates no Fellsmere households under $10,000. Wages carry the town: 88.2 percent of Fellsmere households have earnings, and only 27.4 percent receive Social Security, compared with 52.9 percent across Indian River County.

Individual pay is modest. Median earnings for all Fellsmere workers are $34,108; men working full time year round have median earnings of $39,297 and women $32,688. Food assistance reaches 10.7 percent of Fellsmere households through SNAP, above the county's 7.5 percent and below Florida's 12.6 percent in the state profile.

The Fellsmere poverty rate is 18.8 percent of residents, against 11.1 percent in Indian River County and 12.6 percent in Florida, with children hit hardest at 27.7 percent.

The S1701 poverty table for Fellsmere gives both figures; the margin on the all-ages rate is 9.4 points, so the true rate could be anywhere from roughly 9 to 28 percent. Poverty among Fellsmere residents 65 and over is low at 3.9 percent, and 9.8 percent of families are below the line. Female-householder families with no spouse present have the highest family rate in the Fellsmere profile, 33.2 percent.

School meal eligibility tells the same story. At Fellsmere Elementary, 602 of 605 students were eligible for free lunch in 2024-2025, according to the federal school record for the campus at 50 North Cypress Street, which the school district now runs as Fellsmere Academy.

Construction is the largest line of work for Fellsmere residents, employing 30.1 percent of the 2,045 who hold jobs, and agriculture employs another 9.1 percent.

Both shares stand far above the surrounding area in the Fellsmere industry data. Construction employs 8.7 percent of workers countywide and 8.2 percent statewide; agriculture, forestry, fishing and mining employ 2.0 percent in the county and 0.8 percent in Florida. By occupation, 37.5 percent of employed Fellsmere residents work in natural resources, construction and maintenance jobs, and 26.2 percent in service jobs.

Some Fellsmere cells reflect the small sample more than the town: the survey records no retail workers at all, against 11.9 percent in the county profile, and that zero carries a margin. Management, business, science and arts jobs, 40.0 percent of county workers, are 21.2 percent in Fellsmere. Nearly all Fellsmere workers, 91.3 percent, are private wage and salary employees; 4.2 percent work for government and 4.5 percent are self-employed.

Visitor spending has a local base too. The City of Fellsmere Community and Tourism page points to Blue Cypress Lake, which it describes as one of the world's largest osprey nesting sites and a top bass and crappie fishery, and to the Frog Leg Festival, which holds two Guinness world records. Arts, entertainment, accommodation and food services employ 216 Fellsmere residents, 10.6 percent of the employed, close to the county's 10.5 percent. Public administration employs 69 Fellsmere residents, 3.4 percent of the employed.

The Census of Agriculture publishes no Fellsmere city figure, but the 2022 Indian River County profile, the closest official measure for the farmland around Fellsmere, counts 492 farms on 167,396 acres.

Those farms sold $124,098,000 in products in 2022, according to page 1 of the USDA county profile. Fruit dominates: fruits, tree nuts and berries brought in $63,061,000, and oranges covered 17,834 acres and grapefruit 5,222 acres, on page 2 of the profile. The same page reports that 34 percent of county farms hire farm labor. Fellsmere's own 9.1 percent agriculture share counts residents by the industry they work in, not farms, so the two measures are not directly comparable.

Fellsmere has a high labor force participation rate, 64.0 percent of residents 16 and over, and an unemployment rate of 7.8 percent in Census ACS 2020-2024 estimates.

The S2301 employment table sets the unemployment rate at 7.8 percent with a margin of 5.1 points; the county rate is 4.5 percent and Florida's 4.8 percent. Participation in Fellsmere outpaces the county's 48.6 percent and Florida's 59.8 percent, and 71.5 percent of Fellsmere women 16 and over are in the labor force.

Fellsmere commutes run longer than the county's. Their mean travel time to work is 31.9 minutes, against 23.8 in the county and 28.0 statewide. Carpooling is common: 19.9 percent of Fellsmere workers share a ride, compared with 11.0 percent countywide, while 66.6 percent drive alone. The city's Fellsmere Trailhead Preserve and Welcome Center sits at 11090 CR 512, northwest of the I-95 and CR-512 interchange. Last verified: October 12, 2026, on the U.S. Census Bureau website.