The pride of Santa Rosa County is its workforce. Our industries tell us time and again that the talent pool here is second to none. Santa Rosa County industries benefit from a three-county workforce, drawing talent from Santa Rosa, Escambia, and Okaloosa Counties– to the tune of more than 270,000. The real advantage, however, is not the numbers. The real asset is the quality and character of our people. The two keys to economic development are product and workforce. In Santa Rosa, we have a robust supply of both.

Today, people choose quality of life above all other work-life considerations. In many cases, they are choosing Santa Rosa County, complementing an already talented and creative workforce. Santa Rosa is a place where families thrive, industries grow and thousands live where millions wish they could.

Santa Rosa is also home to a culture of strong military values- values which spill over to our workforce. Employees who join our industries from the armed forces come highly trained with skills that are easily transferable to the workplace and highly sought after. From an abundance of military retirees and wealth of civilian Department of Defense contractors, Santa Rosa has a unique workforce that is ideal for both aerospace and defense, as well as information technology industries.

A few workforce facts and figures:

• The average wage in Santa Rosa County is $14.69 per hour.
• The Pensacola MSA has more than 50,000 available workers for new or expanding businesses.
• The 325 zip code has more military retirees than another other in the country.
• Santa Rosa County is home to thousands of Department of Defense contractors with knowledge and experience in the aerospace and defense industry.
• Quick Response Training Program (QRT) provides grant funding for customized training to new or expanding businesses.
  
• The Incumbent Worker Training Program (IWT) provides grant funding for customized training to existing for-profit businesses of all sizes.
  
• A wide variety of industry certification programs are available through Locklin Technical Center. Click here to visit Locklin online.
  
• There are seven colleges and universities in the Pensacola MSA.
  
• There are six high schools in Santa Rosa County:
  Pace High School
  Milton High School
  Gulf Breeze High School
  Navarre High School
  Jay High School
  Central High School