Sebastian, Florida Economy Guide

Sebastian's economy section has 10 guides, and the table below matches each common money, jobs and business question with its key figure and the guide that explains it.

Most Sebastian job and wage statistics are published for the Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor metro area, which HUD defines as Indian River County alone (HUD), so county numbers are the closest official measure of the Sebastian labor market. Business counts are published by ZIP code, and tax figures for the City of Sebastian itself.

In preliminary August 2026 figures, the Sebastian-Vero Beach metro area had 67,300 people in its labor force and 63,500 employed, with an unemployment rate of 5.6 percent, up from 5.2 percent in March.

Employers in the Sebastian-Vero Beach metro counted 58,900 nonfarm jobs in August 2026, a 0.2 percent drop from a year earlier, in Bureau of Labor Statistics figures that are preliminary and not seasonally adjusted (BLS Economy at a Glance). Education and health services were the largest sector with 12,800 jobs and the fastest growing, up 2.4 percent over twelve months.

Leisure and hospitality moves the most through the Sebastian year: it fell from 8,600 jobs in March to a preliminary 7,800 in August 2026, and was also 1.3 percent below August 2025. The workforce guide follows the monthly labor force numbers, and the regional economic context guide compares the Indian River County metro with its neighbors in Brevard and St. Lucie counties.

Workers in the Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor metro area earned a mean of $28.25 an hour in May 2025, against a national mean of $33.54, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Management was the best paid major group in the Sebastian metro at $56.74 an hour, followed by legal occupations at $52.71 (BLS occupational wages, May 2025). Food preparation and serving counted 6,930 jobs at a mean of $18.08 an hour, or $37,600 a year.

The wage floor moved this autumn: Florida's minimum wage reached $15 an hour on September 30, 2026, the last of the $1 yearly steps set in Article X, section 24 of the Florida Constitution, with inflation adjustments starting September 30, 2027 (Florida Constitution, Sebastian Daily, September 22, 2026). Pay surveys dated May 2025 predate that change, so any Sebastian wage below $15 in those tables no longer reflects the legal floor.

On the cost side, HUD's fiscal 2026 fair market rent for a two-bedroom unit in the Indian River County metro is $1,604 a month, up from $1,567 in fiscal 2025 (HUD). The cost of living guide sets rents, wages and household costs for Sebastian side by side.

ZIP code 32958, the main Sebastian ZIP, held 727 business establishments with paid employees in 2023, employing 6,397 people, and 459 of those establishments had fewer than five workers.

Retail trade led the Sebastian ZIP with 101 establishments, followed by construction with 93, health care and social assistance with 92, and professional, scientific and technical services with 80, in the Census Bureau's 2023 County Business Patterns (Census Bureau, CBP 2023). The business counts by industry guide compares those totals with Indian River County.

Any business inside Sebastian city limits needs a City of Sebastian Local Business Tax Receipt. Receipts go on sale July 1, are due by September 30 and expire the following September 30; a late renewal adds 10 percent in October and 5 percent for each later month, capped at 25 percent, and a receipt first issued between April 1 and September 30 costs half the annual tax (City of Sebastian). A home-based business also pays a $50 application fee. Last verified: October 14, 2026, on the City of Sebastian website.

Receipt applications for commercial locations are handled at Sebastian City Hall, 1225 Main Street, open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and closed daily from noon to 1 p.m. (City of Sebastian). For planning help, the Florida Small Business Development Center at Indian River State College offers no-cost consulting from its Fort Pierce office, phone 772-336-6285 (Florida SBDC at IRSC); the small business resources guide lists the Sebastian options.

Sebastian's 2025 tax roll carried $2,490,228,650 in taxable value on a just value of $4,426,308,825, and the taxable figure rose 8.37 percent from 2024.

The City of Sebastian's millage rate on the 2025 roll was 3.4455, up from 3.1955 in 2024, and city taxes levied reached $8,580,083, a 16.84 percent increase, in Florida Department of Revenue data (2025 roll, percent change). The property tax base guide shows who pays and how the roll has grown, and county, school and special district levies come on top of the city rate.

Short-term rentals in Sebastian, meaning stays of six months or less, collect Indian River County's tourist development tax of 5 percent of total taxable rental receipts, in addition to the 7 percent state sales tax (Indian River County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller). Owners who collect and remit the tax keep a collection allowance of 2.5 percent, up to $30. The tourist development tax guide explains where Sebastian's share of that money goes.

Two Sebastian economic programs carry firm terms: the redevelopment agency faces a September 30, 2033 sunset, and airport land is still on offer with city and county tax incentives.

The Sebastian Community Redevelopment Agency grew out of a 1995 city study of the downtown, and the Sebastian City Council sits as its board (City of Sebastian CRA). Under section 163.3755 of Florida Statutes it sunsets on September 30, 2033 unless the council votes by majority to continue it (City of Sebastian). The agency meets at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers at 1225 Main Street, with meetings listed for October 14 and November 18, 2026 (CRA meeting schedule).

Sebastian Municipal Airport offers over 80 acres for aviation and light industry businesses, with tax incentives from both the City of Sebastian and Indian River County (City of Sebastian). The business incentives guide covers both programs.

Sebastian Inlet's value has been measured directly: a 2023 Balmoral Group study for the Sebastian Inlet District credited it with $1.1 billion a year in regional benefit, $536 million in value added and 9,000 jobs across Brevard and Indian River counties (Sebastian Inlet District). The historical economy guide traces how the city's earlier economies led to this one.