Fort Myers Shores vs Sanibel

A side-by-side comparison of Fort Myers Shores and Sanibel: population, income, housing, and more.

Fort Myers Shores and Sanibel are places in Florida. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Sanibel has the higher population (6,402 vs 5,966 in Fort Myers Shores). Sanibel has the higher median household income ($122,730 vs $66,150 in Fort Myers Shores). Sanibel has the higher median home value ($912,200 vs $256,600 in Fort Myers Shores).

Population, income & housing

	Fort Myers Shores	Sanibel
Population	5,966	6,402
Median age	39.5 yrs	68.2 yrs
Median household income	$66,150	$122,730
Median home value	$256,600	$912,200
Median gross rent	$1,435	$747
Housing units	2,495	8,525
Homeownership rate	58.5%	91.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.5%	61.6%
Unemployment rate	5.4%	6.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Fort Myers Shores	Sanibel
Population	6,813 → 5,966 (-12.4%)	7,319 → 6,402 (-12.5%)
Median household income	$46,969 → $66,150 (+40.8%)	$108,081 → $122,730 (+13.6%)
Median home value	$163,400 → $256,600 (+57.0%)	$721,200 → $912,200 (+26.5%)
Median gross rent	$1,030 → $1,435 (+39.3%)	$1,545 → $747 (-51.7%)

Fort Myers Shores

Population

6,8135,966

Median household income

$46,969$66,150

Median home value

$163,400$256,600

Median gross rent

$1,030$1,435

Sanibel

Population

7,3196,402

Median household income

$108,081$122,730

Median home value

$721,200$912,200

Median gross rent

$1,545$747

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Fort Myers Shores	Sanibel
Under 5	2.7%	0.4%
5 to 17	19.1%	3.7%
18 to 24	9.9%	3.2%
25 to 34	9.4%	1.9%
35 to 44	16.3%	3.6%
45 to 54	12.1%	5.3%
55 to 64	13.9%	22.8%
65 to 74	7.7%	35.7%
75 and over	8.8%	23.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Fort Myers Shores	Sanibel
White (non-Hispanic)	63.0%	95.1%
Black or African American	1.1%	0.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.2%
Asian	2.0%	1.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	1.3%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.1%	1.9%
Hispanic or Latino	30.5%	0.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Fort Myers Shores	Sanibel
No high school diploma	19.9%	1.1%
High school graduate	36.9%	22.4%
Some college or associate's	26.7%	14.9%
Bachelor's degree	13.4%	33.9%
Graduate or professional degree	3.2%	27.7%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Fort Myers Shores	Sanibel
Drove alone	79.3%	53.7%
Carpooled	7.0%	8.6%
Public transit	0.0%	0.3%
Walked	0.0%	7.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.5%
Worked from home	11.7%	29.9%
Other means	1.9%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Fort Myers Shores	Sanibel
1-unit, detached	82.4%	55.2%
1-unit, attached	2.0%	2.7%
2 to 4 units	7.2%	2.9%
5 to 19 units	0.0%	19.4%
20 or more units	4.2%	16.7%
Mobile home & other	4.3%	3.1%

Poverty & households

	Fort Myers Shores	Sanibel
Poverty rate	13.8%	7.7%
Average household size	2.70	1.93
Mean commute (minutes)	30	21
Median year structure built	1978	1983