Can Orlando hospitality workers afford to live in Orlando?

Why Orlando is different

Orlando's economy runs on tourism. Theme parks. Hotels. Restaurants. Convention centers. That means thousands of hospitality workers, food service employees, and lodging staff whose wages have not kept pace with the cost of housing in Central Florida.

Nationwide, 22.6 million renter households now spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing.^[5] Florida is among the states where this crisis is most acute, per the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, with rents rising dramatically from 2020 through 2023.^[1] For Orlando, this is not an abstract statistic. It is the housekeeper who cannot afford a one-bedroom near the park where she works. It is the line cook commuting an hour each way because nothing closer is within reach. It is families doubling up, sleeping on couches, choosing between rent and food.

The rental housing market in Florida is now out of reach, with some families jumping rents month to month, not knowing where they will find a roof over their children's heads.^[6]

The approach for Orlando

David Jolly's plan starts with proximity to work. Orlando's hospitality workers should not have to spend hours and gas money commuting to jobs along International Drive, near the convention center, or in the parks. There are models that work to deliver more workforce and affordable housing, with public-private partnerships from Miami to Pensacola proving successful.^[7] These partnerships allow people to afford living in the community where they work based on their income, trade, proximity to work, and station in life.^[7]

The plan is to scale up a historic investment in workforce and affordable housing using public-private partnerships that have proven to work, including existing SAIL and SHIP programs and the Live Local Act's 10-year, $1.5 billion SAIL expansion.^[8] Orlando's tourism corridors are exactly the kind of proximity-to-work locations where workforce housing should be concentrated.

But housing costs are not just about rent. Utility bills are the next-largest fixed monthly expense for most Florida households. Florida Power & Light's authorized return on equity is 10.95 percent, among the highest in the country.^[9] Bringing that down to the national average of roughly 9 to 10 percent would lower monthly bills for renters and homeowners without crushing utility investment. Combined with insurance reform, capping utility profit is the third leg of Orlando's affordability relief: rents, insurance, and bills.

For Orlando homeowners, the insurance piece is just as urgent. Florida is one of the most expensive states in the country for homeowners insurance, with averages ranging from roughly $5,400 to over $14,000 per year depending on coverage level.^[10] The state catastrophic fund expansion would separate hurricane coverage entirely from the private market, bringing premiums down by 60 to 70 percent.^[4]

What this means for Orlando workers

Orlando's hospitality workers are not asking for a handout. They are asking for the math to add up. A hotel housekeeper, a server, a line cook should be able to afford a safe, stable place to live within a reasonable distance of work. Right now, for too many people, that is not the case.

David Jolly's plan recognizes that Orlando's economy depends on a workforce that can afford to show up. Proximity-to-work housing means shorter commutes, lower transportation costs, and more time at home. Lower utility bills mean more breathing room in a monthly budget already stretched thin. And for the hospitality workers who have managed to buy a home in the Orlando area, insurance relief means holding onto that home instead of losing it to an unaffordable premium spike.

This is not complicated. Orlando's economy thrives when Orlando's workers can afford to live here. The plan delivers that.