Fort Lauderdale is a relatively large coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Florida. With a population of 183,146 people and 51 associated neighborhoods, Fort Lauderdale is the tenth largest community in Florida.

Housing costs in Fort Lauderdale are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in Florida.

Also of interest is that Fort Lauderdale 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 home: 13.95% 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 thing that you will notice about Fort Lauderdale is that there is a good-sized population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile career starters. Many singles consider Fort Lauderdale a good place to live without being in a really big city, with opportunities for friendships and fun with others like themselves.

Fort Lauderdale is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities.

The citizens of Fort Lauderdale are among the most well-educated in the nation: 40.30% of adults in Fort Lauderdale 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 Fort Lauderdale in 2018 was $55,060, which is wealthy relative to Florida and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $220,240 for a family of four. However, Fort Lauderdale contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Fort Lauderdale is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Fort Lauderdale home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Fort Lauderdale residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Fort Lauderdale also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 19.75% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Fort Lauderdale include Irish, Italian, German, English, and Haitian.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Fort Lauderdale's cultural character, accounting for 26.29% of the city’s population.

The most common language spoken in Fort Lauderdale is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and French.