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St. Lucie County, Florida facts for kids

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For the historical former county that existed from 1844 to 1855, see St. Lucie County, Florida (1844-1855).
Quick facts for kids
St. Lucie County
U.S. county
St. Lucie County Courthouse
St. Lucie County Courthouse
Official seal of St. Lucie County
Seal
Map of Florida highlighting St. Lucie County
Location within the U.S. state of Florida
Map of the United States highlighting Florida
Florida's location within the U.S.
Country  United States
State  Florida
Founded May 24, 1905
Named for St. Lucie Inlet
Seat Fort Pierce
Largest city Port St. Lucie
Area
 • Total 688 sq mi (1,780 km2)
 • Land 572 sq mi (1,480 km2)
 • Water 116 sq mi (300 km2)  16.9%%
Population
 • Estimate 
(2019)
 328,297
 • Density 486/sq mi (188/km2)
Time zone UTC−5 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST) UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district 18th

St. Lucie County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2010 census, the population was 277,789. The county's seat is Fort Pierce. As of the 2019 Census Estimate, St. Lucie County has a population of 328,297. St. Lucie County is included in the Port St. Lucie, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The current St. Lucie County was created in 1905 from the southern part of Brevard County. Brevard County had been named St. Lucie County from 1844 until 1855 when it was renamed Brevard County.

In 1925, Indian River County was created out of the northern part of St Lucie County, while northern Martin County was created from a small part of southeastern St. Lucie County and the northern part of Palm Beach County. Much of western St Lucie County had gone in 1917 to form Okeechobee County.

Land

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 688.08 square miles (1,782.1 km2), of which 572.45 square miles (1,482.6 km2) (or 83.20%) is land and 115.63 square miles (299.5 km2) (or 16.80%) is water, much of it in the Atlantic Ocean.

St. Lucie County is part of the Port St. Lucie Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Major highways

Counties nearby

People

As of the census of 2000, there were 192,695 people, 76,933 households, and 54,237 families living in the county. The population density was 337 people per square mile (130/km²). There were 91,262 housing units at an average density of 159 per square mile (62/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 79.14% White, 15.42% African American, 0.24% Native American, 0.95% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 2.37% from other races, and 1.82% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.16% of the population. 86.6% spoke English, 7.6% Spanish, 1.6% French Creole and 1.0% French as their first language. 3.3% of the population identified themselves as being of non-Hispanic West Indian Ancestry.

In 2005 St. Lucie county had a population that was 69.2% non-Hispanic white, 16.5% African-American, 12.4% Latino and 1.3% Asian.

In 2000 there were 76,933 households out of which 26.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.30% were married couples living together, 11.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.50% were not related. 23.50% of all households were made up of people living alone and 12.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the county the population was spread out with 22.60% under the age of 18, 6.60% from 18 to 24, 25.10% from 25 to 44, 23.00% from 45 to 64, and 22.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 95.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $36,363, and the median income for a family was $41,381. Males had a median income of $30,047 versus $22,684 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,790. About 9.60% of families and 13.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.50% of those under age 18 and 7.70% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

Incorporated

Unincorporated

Education

Schools in the county are managed by St. Lucie County Public Schools.

  • Florida Atlantic University Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
  • Indian River State College Ft. Pierce and PSL Campus
  • Keiser University PSL Campus
  • University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Ft. Pierce

Points of interest

Governmental

Board of County Commissioners

Constitutional officers

School district

Multi-county districts

Judicial branch

Non-governmental

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
1910 4,075 —
1920 7,886 93.5%
1930 7,057 −10.5%
1940 11,871 68.2%
1950 20,180 70.0%
1960 39,294 94.7%
1970 50,836 29.4%
1980 87,182 71.5%
1990 150,171 72.3%
2000 192,695 28.3%
2010 277,789 44.2%
2019 (est.) 328,297 18.2%
U.S. Decennial Census
1790-1960 1900-1990
1990-2000 2010-2019

As of the census of 2010, there were 277,789 people, 108,523 households, and 74,963 families residing in the county. The population density was 485.7 people per square mile. There were 137,029 housing units at an average density of 239.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 71.8% White, 19.1% African American, 0.4% Native American, 1.6% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 4.5% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 16.6% of the population.

According to the 2015 American Community Survey, 90.7% spoke English, 14.6% Spanish, 5.0% Other Indo-European languages, and 1.2% Asian and Pacific Island languages.

According to census of 2000, the largest ancestry groups in St. Lucie County were: English 34%, African 15%, Irish 14%, German 13%, Italian 10%. For every 100 females, there were 95.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.80 males.

In 2010 there were 108,523 households, out of which 26.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.0% were married couples living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.9% were non-families. 24.2% of all non-family households were made up of individuals living alone, and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 77.7% 18 years of age and over; 23.2% from 25 to 44, 26.8% from 45 to 64, and 19.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.4 years.

According to the 2010 census, the median income for a household in the county was $36,363, and the median income for a family was $41,381. Males had a median income of $30,047 versus $22,684 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,790. About 9.60% of families and 13.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.50% of those under age 18 and 7.70% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Airports

Major highways

Public bus service

St. Lucie County is served by the St. Lucie Transportation Planning Organization (TPO). The TPO is a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), a federally mandated and federally funded transportation policy-making organization responsible for transportation planning, programming, and financing of State and Federal Transportation Funds for St. Lucie County. The TPO is governed by a TPO Board, which is composed of elected officials, representatives from the St. Lucie County School Board, and representatives from Community Transit, a division of The Council on Aging of St. Lucie, Inc. The original bus system started out as a demand response service bus in the 1990s, it only served St. Lucie County. Soon it expanded to a fixed route system, going to predetermined locations along a route. On June 3, 2002, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) approved funding, expanding the bus service to Martin County, and became the Treasure Coast Connector.

Passenger trains

Until 1968 the Florida East Coast Railway operated Jacksonville to Miami service, with station stops in Fort Pierce and Jensen Beach. Until 1963 long distances passenger trains of the Illinois Central (City of Miami) and Louisville and Nashville (Dixie Flagler and South Wind) from Chicago and Atlantic Coast Line from New York City (East Coast Champion, the Havana Special, and the winter-only Florida Special) made stops in Fort Pierce.

The Brightline passenger rail company is extending to the Space Coast and Orlando, north from the West Palm Beach terminus of its West Palm Beach - Miami service. Fort Pierce and nearby Stuart have been jockeying for position as the Treasure Coast station for a return of passenger service, with Stuart edging out ahead.

Images for kids

  • Ft Pierce FL Old Fort Park01

    Old Fort Park

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Condado de Santa Lucía para niños

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