About Odessa

Odessa is a somewhat small town located in the state of Florida. With a population of 14,257 people and just one neighborhood, Odessa is the 182nd largest community in Florida.

There's nothing like the smell of a brand new house, and in Odessa, you'll find that a large proportion of houses were recently built. New growth in residential real estate is an indication that people are choosing to move to Odessa, and putting down their money on brand new construction. Odessa's real estate is, on average, some of the newest in the nation. The town does seem to be experiencing an influx of affluent people, because the median household income in Odessa is $71,141.

Unlike some towns where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Odessa is neither predominently one or the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Odessa is a town of sales and office workers, managers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Odessa who work in sales jobs (16.83%), management occupations (15.32%), and office and administrative support jobs (15.32%).

Also of interest is that Odessa has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their homes - 7.36% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. 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 downside of living in Odessa, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 31.32 minutes every day commuting to work.

Odessa is a very car-oriented town. This is because most people - 97.5% - drive by car to work every day, and few people choose alternative modes of transportation, such as public transit, cycling, or walking. In general, car-oriented communities have a layout that emphasizes streets, highways, and ease of parking, and sometimes this can be to the detriment of human-scale priorities such as walkability alongside roads, and public spaces. For example, strip malls are something you will find in Odessa.

As is often the case in a small town, Odessa doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.

Odessa Information and Demographics

The citizens of Odessa are very well educated compared to the average community in the nation: 37.56% of adults in Odessa have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.

The per capita income in Odessa in 2000 was $32,005, which is wealthy relative to Florida and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $128,020 for a family of four. However, Odessa contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

The people who call Odessa home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Odessa is White, followed by African-American. Important ancestries of people in Odessa include German, English, Irish, Italian, and Polish.

The most common language spoken in Odessa is English. Some people also speak Spanish.