Duval County, Florida Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Duval County
Consolidated city-county
City of Jacksonville and Duval County
Duval County Courthouse
Location within the U.S. state of Florida
Florida's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Florida
Founded	August 12, 1822
Named for	William Pope Duval
Seat	Jacksonville
Largest city	Jacksonville
Area
• Total	918 sq mi (2,380 km²)
• Land	762 sq mi (1,970 km²)
• Water	156 sq mi (400 km²) 17.0%%
Population (2022)
• Total	1,016,536
• Density	1,231/sq mi (475/km²)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional districts	4th, 5th

Duval County (/djuːˈvɔːl/ DEW-vawl) is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. As of July 2022, the population was 1,016,536, up from 864,263 in 2010. It is Florida's sixth-most populous county. Its county seat is Jacksonville, with which the Duval County government has been consolidated since 1968. Duval County was established in 1822, and is named for William Pope Duval, Governor of Florida Territory from 1822 to 1834. Duval County is the central county of the Jacksonville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History
Geography
- National protected areas
- Adjacent counties
Demographics
- 2010 Census
- Languages
Education
Communities
Transportation
See also

History

This area had been settled by varying cultures of indigenous peoples for thousands of years before European contact. Within the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve in Jacksonville, archeologists have excavated remains of some of the oldest pottery in the United States, dating to 2500 BCE. Prior to European contact, the area was inhabited by the Mocama, a Timucuan-speaking group who lived throughout the coastal areas of northern Florida. At the time Europeans arrived, much of what is now Duval County was controlled by the Saturiwa, one of the region's most powerful tribes. The area that became Duval County was home to the 16th-century French colony of Fort Caroline, and saw increased European settlement in the 18th century with the establishment of Cowford, later renamed Jacksonville.

Duval County was created in 1822 from St. Johns County. It was named for William Pope Duval, Governor of Florida Territory from 1822 to 1834. When Duval County was created, it covered a massive area, from the Suwannee River on the west to the Atlantic Ocean on the east, north of a line from the mouth of the Suwannee River to Jacksonville on the St. Johns River. Alachua and Nassau counties were created out of parts of Duval County in 1824. Clay County was created from part of Duval County in 1858. Part of St. Johns County south and east of the lower reaches of the St. Johns River was transferred to Duval County in the 1840s.

Portrait of William Pope Duval
Duval County Courthouse in 1894
Jacksonville in 1909
Bryan Simpson United States Courthouse in 2008.
Jacksonville Beach in 2018.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 918 square miles (2,380 km²), of which 762 square miles (1,970 km²) is land and 156 square miles (400 km²) (17.0%) is water. The topography is coastal plain; however there are some rolling hills.

National protected areas

Fort Caroline National Memorial
Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve

Adjacent counties

Nassau County - north and northwest
St. Johns County - southeast
Clay County - southwest
Baker County - west

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1830	1,970	—
1840	4,156	111.0%
1850	4,539	9.2%
1860	5,074	11.8%
1870	11,921	134.9%
1880	19,431	63.0%
1890	26,800	37.9%
1900	39,733	48.3%
1910	75,163	89.2%
1920	113,540	51.1%
1930	155,503	37.0%
1940	210,143	35.1%
1950	304,029	44.7%
1960	455,411	49.8%
1970	528,865	16.1%
1980	571,003	8.0%
1990	672,971	17.9%
2000	778,879	15.7%
2010	864,263	11.0%
2020	995,567	15.2%
2023 (est.)	1,030,822	19.3%
U.S. Decennial Census

**Duval County racial composition as of 2020**
(NH = Non-Hispanic)
Race	Pop 2010	Pop 2020	% 2010	% 2020
White (NH)	488,826	492,039	56.56%	49.42%
Black or African American (NH)	250,063	286,344	28.93%	28.76%
Native American or Alaska Native (NH)	2,816	2,306	0.33%	0.23%
Asian (NH)	35,381	48,652	4.09%	4.89%
Pacific Islander (NH)	688	960	0.08%	0.1%
Some Other Race (NH)	2,006	6,837	0.23%	0.69%
Mixed/Multi-Racial (NH)	19,085	45,740	2.21%	4.59%
Hispanic or Latino	65,398	112,689	7.57%	11.32%
Total	864,263	995,567

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 995,567 people, 369,704 households, and 225,060 families residing in the county.

2010 Census

U.S. Census Bureau 2010 Ethnic/Race Demographics:

White (non-Hispanic) (60.9% when including White Hispanics): 56.6% (10.7% German, 10.6% Irish, 9.2% English, 4.1% Italian, 2.3% French, 2.1% Scottish, 2.1% Scotch-Irish, 1.8% Polish, 1.2% Dutch, 0.6% Russian, 0.6% Swedish, 0.6% Norwegian, 0.5% Welsh, 0.5% French Canadian)
Black (non-Hispanic) (29.5% when including Black Hispanics): 28.9% (1.7% Subsaharan African, 1.4% West Indian/Afro-Caribbean American [0.5% Haitian, 0.4% Jamaican, 0.1% Other or Unspecified West Indian, 0.1% Bahamian])
Hispanic or Latino of any race: 7.6% (2.5% Puerto Rican, 1.7% Mexican, 0.8% Cuban)
Asian: 4.2% (1.7% Filipino, 0.8% Indian, 0.6% Other Asian, 0.4% Vietnamese, 0.3% Chinese, 0.2% Korean, 0.1% Japanese)
Two or more races: 2.9%
American Indian and Alaska Native: 0.4%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 0.1%
Other Races: 2.1% (0.9% Arab)

In 2010, 6.7% of the population considered themselves to be of only "American" ancestry (regardless of race or ethnicity.)

Of the 342,450 households 28.68% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.92% were married couples living together, 16.74% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.27% were non-families. 24.85% of households were one person and 8.05% (2.29% male and 5.76% female) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.04.

The age distribution was 23.5% under the age of 18, 10.5% from 18 to 24, 28.4% from 25 to 44, 26.4% from 45 to 64, and 11.1% 65 or older. The median age was 35.8 years. For every 100 females there were 94.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.6 males.

The median household income was $49,463 and the median family income was $60,114. Males had a median income of $42,752 versus $34,512 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,854. About 10.4% of families and 14.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.3% of those under age 18 and 9.6% of those aged 65 or over.

In 2010, 9.0% of the county's population was foreign born, with 49.5% being naturalized American citizens. Of foreign-born residents, 38.2% were born in Latin America, 35.6% born in Asia, 17.9% were born in Europe, 5.8% born in Africa, 2.0% in North America, and 0.5% were born in Oceania.

Languages

As of 2010, 87.36% of all residents spoke English as their first language, while 5.74% spoke Spanish, 1.18% Tagalog, 0.53% Arabic, 0.48% Serbo-Croatian, 0.47% Vietnamese, and 0.46% of the population spoke French Creole (mostly Haitian Creole) as their mother language. In total, 12.64% of the population spoke languages other than English as their primary language.