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Lee County, FL — Hotels Saturation

How many hotels exist per person present — residents plus daytime workers — by ZIP code, compared with the U.S. average. Establishment data: Census ZBP 2023. Population: ACS 2024 5-year. 46 ZIP codes analyzed.

Includes: Hotels · Motels · Motor inns. Counted together because official statistics use one 721110 code.

Measured density: Range spans bands — 0.67× the U.S. rate (between 0.67× and 1.01× once withheld ZIP cells are counted)

Why a range: Census does not publish a ZIP-by-industry count when that ZIP has 0–2 businesses. 33 ZIP cells in this county are withheld, 22 of them with residents. Each could hold 0, 1, or 2 businesses: counting them all as 0 gives the low end, counting them all as 2 gives the high end — the data cannot say where the truth sits. The density range uses only the populated cells, since ZIPs without residents are excluded from per-person rates. How ranges work

Range spans the U.S. rate   Lee County hotels — 67–101% of the U.S. rate

88 hotels are counted in Lee County — 0.9 per 10,000 people present (residents + daytime workers), 67% of the U.S. rate of 1.4.

On the comparable ZIP set (ZIPs with a published count in every year), the total has stayed roughly flat between 2015 and 2023 (83 → 84).

Measured supply density is highest in 33931 (Fort Myers Beach), 33957 (Sanibel), 34134 (Bonita Springs) — well above the national rate. On measured density alone, the lowest-density residential ZIPs with a published count are 34135 (Bonita Springs), 33908 (Fort Myers), 33928 (Estero).

Census County Business Patterns (2023) puts the county-wide count at 97 establishments, including locations in ZIP codes that do not map to a ZCTA — so it can run slightly above the sum of the ZIP rows on this page. It is annual, so it lags more than QCEW.

Measured density: Lee County sits at 67% of the U.S. rate for hotels. 22 ZIPs with population have no published count (each 0–2 businesses), so the true per-capita rate is between 67% and 101% of the U.S. rate. Why. The highest measured density is in 33931 and 33957; the lowest measured density is in 34135 and 33908.

This is a supply-side read: it counts existing hotels and the people present, not foot traffic, income, rent, or whether locals want more. Treat low density as a question to check, not an answer.

Hotels
88–154
published count; upper bound counts each withheld ZIP cell as 2 (33 cells) (2023)
Per 10,000 present
0.9
residents + daytime workers
U.S. average
1.4
per 10,000 present
County index
0.67×
vs. U.S.
Latest year (CBP)
97
2023 — $144M annual payroll
Residents
817,109
35 ZIPs with data
Workers
263,033
jobs located in county

Is the area growing?

Population
860,959
Census PEP, July 1 2024
Change since 2020
+12.5%
+95,393 people
Net migration 2024
+18,057
international +13,057, domestic +5,000
Jobs located here
284,950
LODES 2022, +5.9% since 2019

Lee County had an estimated 860,959 residents on July 1, 2024 — 12.5% more than in 2020 (+95,393). In the latest year it gained 16,733 people: births minus deaths −1,347, international migration +13,057, domestic migration +5,000. Components are published separately and may not sum exactly.

284,950 jobs were located in the county in 2022 (+5.9% since 2019), and 309,102 employed residents lived there (+8.9% since 2019). LODES counts wage and salary jobs covered by unemployment insurance plus federal jobs; it excludes the self-employed and military, and counts jobs rather than unique people. 2019→2022 spans the pandemic, so read it as one change, not a trend.

Population and migration say whether the customer base is growing. They do not say whether people want another business of this type. Definitions and limits →  ·  Full county detail →

ZIP gaining residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change
33920 Alva
+45.2%
33993 Cape Coral
+27.5%
33928 Estero
+27.0%
ZIP losing residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change
33931 Fort Myers Beach
−21.0%
33957 Sanibel
−12.3%

ACS 5-year estimates for 2015–2019 and 2020–2024. Only ZIPs with at least 2,000 residents in both windows and a change larger than the survey margin of error (90%) are listed — small ZIPs move a lot on paper without a real signal.

Nonemployer businesses

Not shown. Census publishes hotels only combined with other traveler accommodation (NAICS 7211), so a hotels-and-motels-only nonemployer count is not published.

Census Nonemployer Statistics 2024 (NAICS 2022). We do not approximate this figure.

Saturation map

Each ZIP area is shaded by its density of this business type per person present (residents + workers) vs. the U.S. average. Click any ZIP to zoom to its boundary, see its numbers, and switch to aerial imagery. Individual mapped shops appear as dots at street level — Show locations zooms you in to them (scroll or double-click to zoom).

Basemap:
Under 50% 50–100% 100–150% 150–250% 250%+ 0–2 (not published) / no data ZIP total (dot size) Mapped shop (OpenStreetMap, street level)

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, tiles by OpenFreeMap.

White dots are ZIP totals from the official Census count — the bigger the dot, the more hotels in that ZIP. They are aggregated, not individual shops. Turquoise dots are individual locations mapped in OpenStreetMap, shown only at street level; they are crowd-sourced and indicative, may be incomplete, and do not equal the official counts. Only the official ZIP totals feed the saturation index.

Market trend — up 1% since 2015

Number of hotels in Lee County across 2015–2023, on a consistent set of ZIP codes present in every year — so changes are real, not ZIP-boundary artifacts. 2015/2018 are pre-pandemic baselines; 2020/2021 are COVID-distorted.

83
2015
102
2018
98
2020
107
2021
100
2022
84
2023

Highest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
33931 Fort Myers Beach
1062%
33957 Sanibel
907%
34134 Bonita Springs
201%
33912 Fort Myers
185%
33913 Fort Myers
154%
33907 Fort Myers
143%
33901 Fort Myers
120%
33903 North Fort Myers
109%
33905 Fort Myers
105%
33928 Estero
95%
33908 Fort Myers
64%
34135 Bonita Springs
52%

Lowest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
34135 Bonita Springs
52%
33908 Fort Myers
64%
33928 Estero
95%
33905 Fort Myers
105%
33903 North Fort Myers
109%
33901 Fort Myers
120%
33907 Fort Myers
143%
33913 Fort Myers
154%
33912 Fort Myers
185%
34134 Bonita Springs
201%
33957 Sanibel
907%
33931 Fort Myers Beach
1062%
Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A ZIP with few hotels may simply lack foot traffic, retail space, or demand. We rank only residential and mixed ZIPs here; employment hubs and visitor destinations are listed separately below. ZIPs where Census did not publish a count (0–2 businesses) are not ranked: they may be the least served of all, but the data cannot tell 0 from 1 or 2. Verify those locally.

Employment hubs & destinations

These ZIPs have far more workers (or visitors) than residents, so their counts are driven by daytime and visitor demand — not a place to read "shortage" from resident numbers alone.

ZIPNeighborhoodType ResidentsWorkersHotelsIndex
33924Captiva Employment hub 109420 5 11352%
33921Boca Grande Employment hub 3911,200 0–2 —

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

All ZIP codes

Click a column header to sort. Index = hotels per 10,000 people present (residents + 0.5×workers) ÷ the U.S. average. 100% = exactly average.

ZIPNeighborhood ResidentsWorkersHotels Per 10kIndexStatus
33924Captiva 109420 5 156.7 11352% Very high density
33931Fort Myers Beach 8,3502,394 14 14.7 1062% Very high density
33957Sanibel 6,4181,535 9 12.5 907% Very high density
34134Bonita Springs 16,47510,282 6 2.8 201% High density
33912Fort Myers 19,53323,702 8 2.5 185% High density
33913Fort Myers 31,53821,489 9 2.1 154% High density
33907Fort Myers 25,03320,930 7 2.0 143% Above average
33901Fort Myers 24,48123,431 6 1.7 120% Above average
33903North Fort Myers 23,6555,760 4 1.5 109% Above average
33905Fort Myers 41,38113,791 7 1.4 105% Above average
33928Estero 31,92612,501 5 1.3 95% Below average
33908Fort Myers 37,42315,796 4 0.9 64% Below average
34135Bonita Springs 48,25214,638 4 0.7 52% Below average
33902Fort Myers —263 0–2 — — Not published
33904Cape Coral 33,5997,906 0–2 — — Not published
33906Fort Myers —759 0–2 — — Not published
33909Cape Coral 40,2317,616 0–2 — — Not published
33910Cape Coral —31 0–2 — — Not published
33914Cape Coral 45,5406,096 0–2 — — Not published
33915Cape Coral —33 0–2 — — Not published
33916Fort Myers 27,94314,340 0–2 — — Not published
33917North Fort Myers 33,3804,743 0–2 — — Not published
33918North Fort Myers —5 0–2 — — Not published
33919Fort Myers 30,4127,806 0–2 — — Not published
33920Alva 9,062665 0–2 — — Not published
33921Boca Grande 3911,200 0–2 — — Not published
33922Bokeelia 4,226579 0–2 — — Not published
33929Estero —62 0–2 — — Not published
33932Fort Myers Beach —14 0–2 — — Not published
33936Lehigh Acres 27,9673,483 0–2 — — Not published
33956Saint James City 3,405811 0–2 — — Not published
33965Fort Myers 4,836331 0–2 — — Not published
33966Fort Myers 12,51312,371 0–2 — — Not published
33967Fort Myers 28,3413,840 0–2 — — Not published
33970Lehigh Acres —27 0–2 — — Not published
33971Lehigh Acres 30,7905,023 0–2 — — Not published
33972Lehigh Acres 17,285597 0–2 — — Not published
33973Lehigh Acres 14,392290 0–2 — — Not published
33974Lehigh Acres 19,927622 0–2 — — Not published
33976Lehigh Acres 20,277434 0–2 — — Not published
33990Cape Coral 34,7138,965 0–2 — — Not published
33991Cape Coral 27,7257,142 0–2 — — Not published
33993Cape Coral 35,5801,504 0–2 — — Not published
33994Fort Myers —97 0–2 — — Not published
34133Bonita Springs —40 0–2 — — Not published
34136Bonita Springs —9 0–2 — — Not published

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Find an actual space in Fort Myers

The numbers above tell you how the market looks. To find a specific storefront, these marketplaces list available retail space for lease.

LoopNet
Largest commercial marketplace
Browse Fort Myers retail space →
Crexi
Free listings + market data
Browse Fort Myers retail space →
CityFeet
Retail space for lease
Browse Fort Myers retail space →

Open vacancy data (actual empty units) is only published by some cities; where it exists we show it directly. Listings above are third-party.

Census withholds some ZIP-by-industry cells to protect small businesses. 0–2 means the cell was not published (Census publishes industry counts only at 3+ per ZIP), so the ZIP is left unranked rather than counted as zero. ~ means the count is estimated from the broader industry group and can be off by a business or two.

Follow Lee County and hotels

When a data vintage changes or a section of this report is revised, we post it to a public update feed. No email address, no account, no tracking — and nothing is sent unless something actually changed.

Subscribe to updates (RSS) How these numbers are built →

Methodology & sources

Establishments. U.S. Census ZIP Code Business Patterns (ZBP 2023), NAICS 721110 — hotels (except casino hotels) and motels. Counts establishments with paid employees. ZBP is published annually with a ~2-year lag.

Fresh county signal. This industry has no clean QCEW series, so the freshest county signal is Census County Business Patterns 2023: 97 establishments and $144M in annual payroll county-wide. This count includes locations in ZIP codes that do not map to a ZCTA, so it can be slightly higher than the sum of the ZIP rows. CBP is annual and slower than QCEW. It cannot be broken down by ZIP.

Population. U.S. Census American Community Survey 2024 5-year ZCTA population (table B01003). Workers are the ZIP's total employment from the same 2023 ZBP file.

Demand ("people present"). Demand comes from residents and daytime workers: residents + 0.5 × workers. This is the single documented assumption in the model and can be tuned.

Index. index = (ZIP establishments ÷ ZIP demand × 10,000) ÷ the U.S. average for this industry (1.38 per 10,000 present). It is a supply-side density measure; it does not capture income, rent, tourism, or whether locals actually want more.

Read the full methodology →  ·  Data sources & vintages →

BizGapMap — free, no-login small-business saturation reports for major U.S. counties. Built entirely from public U.S. Census, BLS, and IRS data (ZBP 2023, ACS 2024 5-year, PEP 2024, LODES, QCEW, IRS SOI). No forecasts, no revenue guesses — withheld cells are marked, and the few derived counts are labelled as estimates.