Florida County Map

How Many Counties Are in Florida?

Florida has 67 counties, and the number has held steady since 1925. The count grew out of two original territorial counties, Escambia and St. Johns, both created on July 21, 1821 and divided at the Suwannee River, which means every later county descends from one or both of them. A short-lived Fayette County existed between 1832 and 1834 before its territory returned to Jackson County. Duval is the only consolidated city-county in the state, since Jacksonville merged with the county government in 1968, and Florida has no independent cities of the kind Virginia uses.

What Is the Largest County in Florida?

Collier County has the most land at 1,997 square miles, covering the western Everglades and Big Cypress country inland from Naples. Once water area is counted, Monroe County is far larger at 5,290 square miles, though only 983 square miles of that is land, because the Census Bureau assigns it the waters of Florida Bay and the Gulf around the Keys. Palm Beach ranks second in land area at 1,964 square miles, and Miami-Dade third at 1,900. Popular sources that name Palm Beach as the largest are usually citing total area.

Which Florida County Has the Smallest Land Area?

Union County covers 244 square miles of land and 250 square miles in total, making it the smallest county in Florida by either measure. Bradford County, its neighbor to the east, is second smallest at 294 square miles. Pinellas County is a separate case, because its 274 square miles of land would place it near the bottom, yet it also holds 593 square miles of Gulf and bay water, so its total area is far larger. Union and Bradford lie together in north central Florida and share a lineage, since Bradford was created from Columbia County in 1858 as New River County and renamed three years later, and Union was split off from Bradford in 1921.

Florida Counties by Population

Miami-Dade County had an estimated 2,802,029 residents as of July 1, 2025, keeping it first in the state by a wide margin. Broward follows at 2,013,317 and Palm Beach at 1,575,726, so the three southeastern counties together hold more than a quarter of Florida's estimated 23.5 million residents. Miami-Dade lost population over the 2024 to 2025 estimate year even while remaining the largest. Pinellas is the most densely settled county at roughly 3,465 people per square mile of land, ahead of Orange and Broward.

Which Florida County Has the Fewest Residents?

Liberty County, in the eastern Panhandle, had an estimated 8,035 residents in 2025, the lowest total in Florida. Lafayette County is second at 8,792 and Franklin third at 13,029. Liberty is also the least densely settled county in the state at about 10 people per square mile, because its 836 square miles are mostly Apalachicola National Forest and river bottom. Pinellas has roughly 350 times the population density of Liberty, the widest gap between any two counties in the state.

What County Is Tampa, Orlando, or Jacksonville In?

Tampa is the seat of Hillsborough County, Orlando is the seat of Orange County, and Jacksonville is coterminous with Duval County under the 1968 consolidation. Miami is in Miami-Dade, St. Petersburg in Pinellas, and Tallahassee in Leon. Two large cities are not their county's seat, since St. Petersburg is the biggest city in Pinellas while Clearwater holds the courthouse, and Lakeland is the biggest city in Polk while Bartow serves as the seat. Ocala is in Marion, Fort Myers in Lee, Naples in Collier, Sarasota in Sarasota, and Kissimmee in Osceola.

Which Florida Counties Are in the Central Time Zone?

Nine Panhandle counties lie entirely on Central Time. They are Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Holmes, Washington, Bay, Jackson, and Calhoun. Gulf County is the single split county in Florida, with its northern portion on Central Time and its southern coastal section, including Port St. Joe, on Eastern Time. County voters chose to keep that arrangement in a referendum rather than move the whole county to Central Time. The remaining 57 counties observe Eastern Time, so the zone line runs down the western edge of the state rather than following any single river or highway.

When Were Florida's First Counties Created?

Andrew Jackson, serving as territorial governor, created Escambia and St. Johns on July 21, 1821, splitting the newly acquired territory along the Suwannee River. Escambia took everything west and St. Johns everything east. County creation then ran for roughly a century as settlement pushed south down the peninsula, and it ended in 1925 with a cluster that included Gulf, Indian River, Martin, and Gilchrist. Gilchrist, formed from Alachua County on December 4, 1925, is conventionally treated as the last county established in Florida.

How Is County Government Organized in Florida?

Every county is run by a board of county commissioners, and the state constitution requires each one to designate a single county seat. Twenty counties operate under a voter-approved home rule charter, which lets them set their own board size and exercise powers not inconsistent with general law, while the other 47 are non-charter counties limited to powers the legislature grants them. Charter counties hold roughly three-quarters of the state's population and include Miami-Dade with 13 commissioners and Broward with nine. All counties also elect a sheriff, property appraiser, tax collector, clerk of the circuit court, and supervisor of elections.

Which Florida County Is Growing Fastest?

St. Johns County led the state between July 2024 and July 2025, adding 3.9 percent to reach 346,328 residents. Walton, Hendry, Marion, and Osceola followed, each above 3.4 percent. Measured against the 2020 census instead, St. Johns is still first at 26.7 percent, with Osceola at 24.0 percent and Walton at 23.9 percent. Growth is uneven, since Taylor, Monroe, Pinellas, and Miami-Dade all recorded losses in the same 2024 to 2025 window, and the pattern favors counties on the Interstate 4 corridor and the northeast coast over long-established metropolitan cores.