Exploring Florida Counties to Find Your New Home Town

Florida counties number 67, and are home to over 18,000,000 people. Thirty-nine of Florida counties are part of Metropolitan Statistical Areas, meaning they are densely populated. If plotted on a Florida county map,not surprisingly, these counties would appear all around the coastal region of the state, from Jacksonville to the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area, and also from the Tampa area to the Naples area. The largest concentration of population in Florida’s counties is in the Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach region, with over five million of the state’s people. In fact, this area constitutes the largest metropolitan area in the entire southeast of the United States.

The ten counties in Florida with the highest populations are:

Brevard County – 536,161

Polk County – 574,746

Lee County  – 590,564

Duval County – 849,159

Pinellas County – 917,437

Orange County – 1,066,113

Hillsborough County – 1,174,727

Palm Beach County – 1,266,451

Broward County – 1,759,591

Miami-Dade County – 2,387,170

Although seniors certainly live in these counties, surprisingly, they are not as high a percentage as you might think. Of the largest of Florida’s counties, in Miami-Dade, seniors account for 18% of the population, in Broward County, for 20%, and in Palm Beach, 28%. There are 16 other counties that have a senior population of more than 30%. Of these, three counties, Charlotte, Citrus, and Highlands counties, actually have the highest concentration of senior citizens of counties in the entire United States that have more than 10,000 people. Each of these counties has more than 40% senior citizen residents.

There are nine states that do not impose a state income tax, and Florida is one of them. The state’s sales tax is 6%. However, Florida’s counties can opt to levy a discretionary special local option sales tax. The highest tax allowed is 1.5%. Currently, the following counties charge this maximum amount:

Calhoun County

Escambia County

Gadsen County

Jackson County

Leon County

Madison County

Monroe County

Seniors who are planning to relocate to Florida will want to learn more about Florida counties and what each one can provide.  You can find a great deal of Florida relocation information for each of the counties in Florida through a number of different websites. Here are some good resources to start with:

The US Census Bureau has an excellent tool for looking at information about Florida’s counties. You can find a wide array of statistics and demographic information for the entire state of Florida or for an individual county.

At Florida-Retirement.net, you can find information on everything from arts & culture, events, golf, median real estate prices, hospitals, shopping and parks & recreation for many of Florida’s most popular counties, along with a Florida county map.

You could also look at information like county or local newspapers, regional Florida magazines, or even by joining some online forums about the counties where you are considering moving. When you’ve narrowed down your choices, make a visit to the county for some first-hand impressions.