Gainesville, FL (population: 116,277) has six pastry schools within a 100-mile radius of its city center. First Coast Technical College, the highest ranked school in this group with a pastry program, has a total student population of 542. It is the 1583rd highest ranked school in the USA and the 74th highest in the state of Florida (#1 is University of Miami).
Pastry students from Gainesville schools who go on to become culinary artists, bakers, chefs, pastry chefs, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 140,510 people working as bakers alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $25,350. Also, Cooks, private household make on average $27,720 per year and there are about 770 of them employed in the US today.
Gainesville lies in Alachua county, which is one of the 49 counties in Florida. Overall, the Gainesville area has 121,070 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 2% unemployment rate, $20/hr average worker wage, and a $41,250 average annual salary.
Of the 6 pastry schools with a 100-mile radius of Gainesville, only 1 has a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, First Coast Technical College comes out as the most expensive ($13,482/yr) for pastry students, with Valencia Community College as the lowest, reported at only $8,153/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Gainesville |
| Ocala | FL | 57,520 | 3 | 20.3525 | 108 | 35.5 miles |
| Orange Park | FL | - | 3 | 22.5405 | 26 | 51.2 miles |
| Inverness | FL | - | 1 | 21.0939 | 28 | 57.5 miles |
| Jacksonville | FL | 822,401 | 30 | 25.7972 | 656 | 61.2 miles |
| Saint Augustine | FL | - | 2 | 46.0117 | 74 | 63.6 miles |
| Palm Coast | FL | 76,000 | 0 | - | 0 | 68.3 miles |
| Deland | FL | - | 2 | 24.7322 | 98 | 76.7 miles |
| Daytona Beach | FL | 63,815 | 4 | 31.0595 | 184 | 84.5 miles |
| Deltona | FL | 84,707 | 0 | - | 0 | 86.1 miles |
| South Daytona | FL | - | 1 | 30.9321 | 7 | 87.7 miles |
| Lake Mary | FL | - | 1 | 18.3465 | 21 | 88.2 miles |
| Sanford | FL | 51,795 | 3 | 18.4325 | 133 | 88.3 miles |
| Longwood | FL | - | 1 | 26.2524 | 7 | 90.2 miles |
| Altamonte | FL | - | 1 | 25.1553 | 10 | 91.2 miles |
| Casselberry | FL | - | 2 | 24.82 | 17 | 91.9 miles |
| Saint Leo | FL | - | 1 | 24.1963 | 100 | 92.3 miles |
| Winter Park | FL | - | 6 | 33.3306 | 155 | 95.6 miles |
| Valdosta | GA | 50,660 | 3 | 28.1962 | 149 | 99.1 miles |
| Orlando | FL | 235,745 | 17 | 19.078 | 377 | 99.9 miles |