Florida is a dozen economies wearing one flag. The twelve regions the board uses, what each runs on, and where the postings concentrate.
Florida is the third most populous state, six hundred miles from Pensacola to Key West, and the job market in one corner has little to do with the job market in another. A nurse in Fort Myers and a systems engineer in Melbourne are in different economies. The board sorts every posting into one of twelve regions so you can look at the one you would actually commute in; this is what each is.
The Panhandle
Pensacola to Panama City, on Central Time. The Navy at Pensacola, the Air Force at Eglin, Hurlburt and Tyndall, and the contractors around them are the anchor; hospitals, the beach economy along the Emerald Coast and the ports fill in. Housing is cheaper than the peninsula. Panhandle postings.
The Big Bend
Tallahassee and its counties: state government, two universities, a regional hospital, and the professional services that follow a legislature. It is the least Floridian of the regions in its economy, and the one whose hiring moves with the state budget cycle. Big Bend postings.
The First Coast
Jacksonville and the counties around it. Finance and insurance back offices, health care, the port and rail logistics, and the Navy at Mayport and NAS Jacksonville. St. Johns County to the south is among the fastest-growing in the country, and Palm Coast beyond it has become a hospital and retail market of its own. First Coast postings.
North Central
Gainesville is a university town with a large academic health system; Ocala is horse country and, increasingly, warehouses along I-75; The Villages is the largest retirement community in the country and employs accordingly in health care and services. Between them are the rural counties. North Central postings.
Central Florida
Orlando and everything within an hour of it, plus Daytona Beach on the coast and the Highlands towns to the south. The theme parks and hospitality are the largest employer, but health care is not far behind — two of the state’s biggest systems are headquartered here — and simulation, defense and aerospace cluster around the university. Polk County, between Orlando and Tampa, has become a logistics corridor. Central Florida postings.
The Space Coast
Brevard County: Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, and the engineering campuses of Northrop Grumman, L3Harris and their suppliers around Melbourne. It has the highest share of engineering and cleared postings of any region, and a health system and beach economy beside it. Space Coast postings.
Tampa Bay
Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater and the counties north of them. The largest region on the board: health care first — Moffitt, Tampa General, BayCare and the university medical school — then finance and insurance, MacDill Air Force Base and the defense and intelligence contractors around it, the port, and professional services. Wesley Chapel and the Pasco suburbs are where the growth is. Tampa Bay postings.
The Treasure Coast
Vero Beach, Fort Pierce, Port St. Lucie and Stuart. A fast-growing residential coast whose jobs are health care, retail and services for the people moving in, with the port, citrus and marine trades alongside. Treasure Coast postings.
Southwest Florida
Sarasota and Bradenton down through Fort Myers and Cape Coral to Naples. Health care for a large retiree population is the first employer; Fort Myers also hosts corporate headquarters and a large research-and-advisory campus, and Naples a medical-device manufacturer. Construction follows the population, and the population was among the fastest-growing in the country until Hurricane Ian in 2022. Southwest Florida postings.
The Palm Beaches
Palm Beach County: finance and wealth management in West Palm Beach, aerospace at Pratt & Whitney in Jupiter, biotech research institutes, health care, a university in Boca Raton and agriculture in the Glades. Palm Beaches postings.
Miami-Dade and Broward
The state’s largest urban area and its gateway to Latin America. Trade through two ports and two airports, tourism and the cruise lines, health care, banking, and a growing set of corporate headquarters. It is bilingual in practice, and many postings say so. Miami-Dade and Broward postings.
The Keys
Monroe County, from Key Largo to Key West. Tourism, the Navy, the county and the school district, and health care. Housing is the constraint on every job here, and worth weighing before you apply. Keys postings.
Statewide and remote
Postings that are remote within Florida, and postings whose employer names the state but no city — field roles that cover territories, travel roles, and some corporate positions. Statewide and remote postings.
How a posting is placed
Each posting is placed from the city the employer printed, using a fixed table of Florida cities by county. A city the table does not know is not guessed into a region; it goes to the statewide bucket, and we add it to the table when we notice. The regions index shows what is open in each right now, and the remote guide explains how remote postings are read.