Orlando at a Glance
Dreamy white sand beaches, Disney and dozens of hot dining and shopping destinations: it’s all happening in the OC. No, not Orange County, California — Orange County, Florida, the home of sunny, sweet Orlando. This Central Florida destination may be one of the juiciest secrets of the Sunshine State, but it’s fast becoming relocation central.
Since 2010, Orlando’s diverse population of 316,081 has grown by more than 77,000 — making it one of the state’s fastest-growing cities. The population of greater Orange County has ballooned to 1.5 million, making for a robust metro Orlando area. Newcomers have flocked here for the warm climate and the laid-back lifestyle, but they’ve also come for the diverse career possibilities.
Mickey Mouse and Harry Potter may be the city’s most famous residents, but there’s more than just theme parks to the commercial sector in Orlando. The city is a hub for business in Central Florida, and Advanced Manufacturing, Aerospace and Technology are just three of the industries that support the 80% of Orlando’s highly skilled workforce that is employed outside Leisure & Hospitality.
When you’re not at work, there are plenty of ways to enjoy this cheery metropolis. Throngs of tourists may clog the lines at Walt Disney World and the marinas at nearby Port Canaveral, but there are plenty of amazing ways to explore your home city away from the crowds. Orlando’s burgeoning food scene begs to be savored. You can explore the area’s rich history at places like the Wells’Built Museum of African American History and Culture or the Orlando Museum of Art. Or take a break from city life altogether and go camping at Lake Apopka, one of the best spots to see wildlife as it was intended — in the wild.
With a booming job market and affordable housing options, there are many benefits of living in Orlando. If you’re thinking about relocating here, check out our Moving Guide to Florida to understand more about what makes this sunny state truly shine.
Orlando Climate and Weather
Orlando’s subtropical climate is a warm welcome in winter, but it can certainly get old during the dog days of summer. But that’s what all the theme parks are for — to distract you from the heat.
From June-September, you can expect it to be hot and humid in Orlando. Temperatures average in the 80s, with daytime highs often careening past 90 and into the low 100s — hot enough to make Cinderella trade in her ball gown and glass slippers for a tee shirt and short-shorts — preferably made from something wicking.
The average temperature in Orlando from December through March is in the 60s, and it’s only dropped below freezing a handful of times in the last decade. You’ll only need a coat to make it through the Antarctica exhibit at SeaWorld or the frozen food aisles of Publix.
Orlando is no stranger to severe weather, either. You may never need a snow shovel, but you will need raingear. Since 2022, no one has been a fan of the name Ian or the massive amounts of water he dumped on the city that year. On average, Orlando receives over 50 inches of rain annually, and thunderstorms are frequent, particularly in spring and summer.
Cost of Living in Orlando
Compared to major coastal cities like Miami, New York and Los Angeles, Orlando’s cost of living pales in comparison. At $283,700, the median home value in Orlando between 2017-2021 was $90,000 less than Miami’s, and less than half the cost of real estate in LA or NYC. But the rate of home ownership across all four cities is similarly poor: only 38.2% of Orlando homes are owner-occupied, compared to rates of 50% or higher in Florida cities like Tampa and Jacksonville and the U.S. average of 64.6%. This, coupled with the rising price of real estate, helps drive Orlando rent skyward, and the median is now $1,346/month — comparable to Miami.
Orlando residents also make far less than their coastal counterparts. Orlando’s median household income is only $58,968 — a full $10,000 below the national average.
Orlando residents enjoy the same tax benefits as other Floridians — you won’t pay a dime to the state for personal income taxes. And though Florida does impose a 5.5% corporate state income tax, the state was named #4 on the Tax Foundation’s 2023 State Business Tax Climate Index.
Note: We are not tax experts and are not offering tax advice, other than you should consider obtaining additional information and advice from your legal and/or financial advisers who are fully aware of your individual circumstances.
Job Opportunities in Orlando
Theme parks are certainly big business in sunny Orlando, but the tourism sector actually accounts for only a 20% of the city’s economy. The city’s complex and diverse commercial base includes prominent ventures in aerospace and defense, technology, advanced manufacturing, and logistics and distribution, among others.
116,000 of Orlando’s 1.4 million workers are employed in life sciences and healthcare, where specialty pharmaceuticals are a cornerstone of the industry. Over 60,000 Orlando residents work in technology, boosting the entertainment industry’s unquenchable drive to deliver new visitor experiences and also helping to fuel more hard-nosed endeavors, like rocket propulsion for Lockheed Martin.
Withing these prospering industries, Orlando residents have a variety of interesting businesses to work for, many of which call Orange County their headquarters. These include Mitsubishi Power, AAA, Marriott Vacations Worldwide, Siemens Energy USA and Darden Restaurants, which owns Olive Garden. We’re still hoping for and intra-Floridian, culinary duel between the restaurant chain’s never-ending pasta bowl and Outback’s Bloomin Onion, born and raised in Tampa. Somebody will get sauced.
Orlando businesses benefit from high workforce participation, too — 71.5% of the 16+ population of the city is employed, making it a standout in the Sunshine State. Unemployment in Orlando, while on the rise, has consistently remained behind the national average. The unemployment rates in the city of Orlando and Orange County both stood at around 3% in September 2023.
Another benefit of being an Orlando resident is the high-quality colleges and universities in the region. There are top public institutions, like the University of Florida (UF) in nearby Gainesville and Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee. Students can pursue an array of academic interests within Orlando-area schools like Valencia College, Rollins College and the University of Central Florida, and four technical schools provide career training essential to the manufacturing sector and other core Orlando industries.
Recreation and Entertainment in the City Beautiful
Theme Parks
The railroad and the orange groves may have once been a draw to the city, but Orlando’s theme parks have been the magical attraction ever since. SeaWorld, Universal Studios and Disney World are a part of the city’s identity (and a key component of its revenue stream).
At Universal Studios, you’ll see beasts of an entirely different kind, zipping around on Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure or while battling it out with dragons and trolls in a spooky, 4D cart-ride adventure, where you must escape Gringotts!
But there are lots of fun things to do in Orlando besides waiting in line to board roller coasters. You can also wait in line to board water slides! But if you’d rather be on the line than in it, why not try the Screamin’ Gator Zip Line at Gatorland? What could be more Florida than careening over a congregation of carnivorous, prehistoric beasts with only a harness and steel cable to protect you? Be sure to follow the guidelines about wearing close-toed shoes. Not sure how Gators feel about Crocs.
Sports and Outdoors
Golfers adore Orlando, and there are dozens of courses to spoil a fine walk on in the City Beautiful. You can take a swing at beating Mickey’s handicap at Disney’s Magnolia Golf Course, where Tiger Woods took the PGA Tour title in 1996, or wedge in a tee time at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club and Lodge, which has tour-level play on pristine fairways and greens.
Though you might not think of it, Orlando is also a great place for naturalists. Florida may be flatter than an orange soda left on a hot beach, but that even terrain just makes it easier to go on long hikes. One of our favorite retreats is Wekiwa Springs State Park, where a natural spring and pine forests make even the 13.5-mile-long trail a pleasant excursion. You might get a peep at a white-tailed deer or the elusive Florida bobcat.
Dudley Farm Historic State Park, a preserved farmstead dating back to before the Civil War, is living history center and National Historic Landmark. The 18-building spread gives visitors a first-hand look at life in 19th– and early-20th-century Orlando. Children will be delighted by the farm animals here — turkeys, chickens, and mules make their home at Dudley.
Lake Eola Park — one of more than 100 lakes in the area — is a highlight of downtown Orlando. But did you know? The lake is a giant sinkhole! Talk about turning lemons into lemonade. The 80-foot-deep “lake” is now home to a flock of live swans and a charming flock of swan-shaped paddle boats. At the Lake’s Walt Disney Amphitheatre, you can see concerts and even Shakespearean plays. Not sure how the Bard would feel about the seafoam green stage, but maybe he’d roll with it.
If you prefer more powerful watercraft than paddle-swans, Orlandoans enjoy boating at Lake Conway Chain of Lakes in Belle Isle, where the fishing is also good.
Need to escape the city for a day? Why not take a trip to the Spacecoast? You can blast over to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in less than an hour for a high-octane diversion from landlocked living.
Indoor Fun
When it’s too hot or stormy to be outdoors, Orlando’s museums are the cure for the stir-crazy. Interactive exhibits at Orlando Science Center are sure to wow, with animal experiences like Meet a Snake and physics phun in the Kinetic Zone. Kids also can’t get enough of the Central Florida Railroad Museum in Winter Park, where admission is free, but be prepared to spend some dough on model trains in the gift shop, because everything becomes irresistible at HO scale.
Art-lovers will want to spend some time at local institutions like the Orlando Museum of Art and the Rollins Museum of Art. Part of Rollins College, this smaller institution has an eclectic permanent collection and a fascinating array of temporary exhibitions, from themed shows like The Voice of the People: Freedom of Speech, which includes work by Jenny Holzer, Hank Willis Thomas and Pedro Reyes, to solo shows by local and international artists, like Eugene Ofori Agyei.
There are several performing arts centers and theatres in Orlando, too. The premier destination is the Dr. Phillips Center, which includes the Walt Disney Theater and the impressive Steinmetz Hall, a dramatic, acoustically advanced space where the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and international music talents perform to rapt audiences. Smaller venues like the Orlando Fringe present offbeat plays and musicals for theatregoers of all ages.
Eat and Drink
This year, Orlando, Tampa and Miami made their Michelin debut, but the guide’s new highlights only confirmed what Orlandoans already knew: this is a tasty town to live in. The Strand earned one of Michelin’s Bib Gourmands, which means its delicious offerings are also a great value. Local fare like the snapper cakes with comeback sauce — a cheeky remoulade — are quintessentially Southeastern, and that goes double for the dry-rubbed Alabama chicken with fried mac & cheese and corn succotash. Some staples have gotten a major upgrade — like the impossible-to-share cacio e pepe deviled eggs — but this is not a menu of deconstructed classics. Your favorite dishes have simply gotten a fresh polish, like Granny just finished cleaning the silver.
If you’re looking for an indulgent night out to celebrate, Kaya is fine dining, Filipino style. This cozy, unfussed space in the Mills50 district is designed to make you feel right at home while the chef dazzles you with the five-course tasting menu or a la carte selections like the pork belly humba with peanuts and pumpkin puree or the completely unexpected chicharon and caviar, made with fried chicken skins and a chili-vinegar sawsawan.
When you are so hungry you could eat a horse, but you are decidedly against horse-eating, head to the Ravenous Pig in Winter Park and eat something extraordinary instead. There is nothing humdrum about what comes out of the imaginative kitchen in this gastropub. We’re talking roasted bone marrow with red wine-apple jam. Lobster mushrooms with whiskey butter. Mongolian BBQ octopus! You might need a bib.
Winter Park is also a favorite boutique shopping destination in Orlando, thanks to its walkable, cobblestone streets. But the true shopaholic will want to make a pilgrimage to the Mall at Millenia, where 150 upscale retailers will be happy to tempt you with their wares.
Relocating to Orlando Soon? Let Mayflower Get You There
The sooner you plan for your move to Orlando, the better, and Mayflower will be here for you Every Step of the Way®. Don’t hesitate to start researching the right mover for your needs or in getting moving quotes. Our professional movers can assist you whether you’re making a local move or a long-distance move to Orlando.
Unsure where to start? Let Mayflower help you determine your moving needs.
Moving to Orlando from another state? Mayflower’s long-distance movers are here to help you relocate cross-country from anywhere in the U.S. To help simplify your relocation, we can assist you with custom moving packages and provide full-service moving resources like packing, unpacking, car shipping, debris removal and storage. All the details of your move will be tracked in the Mayflower Move Portal, so you’ll have one less thing to worry about.
Moving to Orlando from another city in Florida? We can assist you with local moves in the state of Florida and the city of Orlando. Our Orlando movers and Florida movers perform local moves in the Sunshine State independently under their own brands and business names.
Making a DIY move to Orlando? Mayflower has lots of resources to help! Check out our moving checklists and packing tips, perfect for the DIYer or anyone looking to de-stress their move.
Pro tip: using a week-by-week moving checklist can help you stay on task.
Still searching for the perfect city in the Sunshine State? Mayflower’s Moving Guide to Florida will give you a glimpse of Florida’s most popular cities and sights, and you’ll get a local’s view of what living in Florida is like.
