Industry in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Fort Lauderdale is a major tourist destination, and in 2006, it had over 10 million visitors. During the 1970s, Fort Lauderdale was known as a spring break destination for college students, although now it attracts a more sophisticated and affluent tourist. Cruise ships and nautical recreation provide a lot of revenue raised by tourism.

Fort Lauderdale is also a major manufacturing and maintenance center for yachts. The boating industry is responsible for over 108,000 jobs in the county. Since Fort Lauderdale has many canals, and is relatively close to the Bahamas and Caribbean, it is also a popular yachting vacation stop, and home port for 42,000 boats, and approximately 100 marinas and boatyards. In addition, the annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, is the world's largest boat show, and brings over 125,000 people to the city each year.

Major companies based in the Fort Lauderdale area include AutoNation, Citrix Systems, DHL Express, Spirit Airlines, and National Beverage Corporation. The largest employers in the county are Tenet Healthcare, which employs 5,000 people; American Express, which employs 4,200; The Continental Group, which employs 3,900; Motorola, which employs 3,000, and Maxim Integrated Products, which employs 2,000.

The median income for a household in the city was $37,887, and the median income for a family was $46,175.