county

Polk County, FL

Demographic and economic profile of Polk County, FL, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Polk County, a central Florida county of 852,878 residents, grew 13.8% over five years while maintaining relatively low housing costs, with a median home value of $240,000 and median gross rent of $1,272 per month. The workforce of roughly 487,000 labor-force participants skews toward lower-wage occupations, reflected in median worker earnings of $37,093 and a bachelor's degree attainment rate of just 22.6%, well below national averages. A 4.4% unemployment rate and 70.5% homeownership rate accompany a per capita GDP of $38,248, pointing to a cost-accessible but moderately productive regional economy.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

852,878

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$65,978

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

39.5 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+13.8% since 2018

Polk County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone438,493 (55.5%)
  • Black or African American Alone115,178 (14.6%)
  • Some Other Race Alone107,305 (13.6%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race84,801 (10.7%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races26,826 (3.4%)
  • Asian Alone14,302 (1.8%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish157,938
  2. 2.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)13,407
  3. 3.Other Indo-European6,514
  4. 4.Other Asian and Pacific Island2,724
  5. 5.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)2,042

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

22.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

58.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

19.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

12.6%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

44,258

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$38,248

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$31,927

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

4.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

14.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance66,936
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)48,963
  3. 3.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services47,288
  4. 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services39,976
  5. 5.Construction (Group)29,478

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations115,308
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations80,034
  3. 3.Service Occupations65,994
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations52,152
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations37,214

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.57×)46,056
  2. 2.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.36×)26,507
  3. 3.Retail Trade (LQ 1.28×)46,311
  4. 4.Construction (LQ 1.23×)28,413
  5. 5.Other Services (LQ 1.01×)15,885

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$240,000

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,272/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

70.5%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $300,000 to $399,99944,560 (21.8%)
  • $250,000 to $299,99925,540 (12.5%)
  • $200,000 to $249,99924,349 (11.9%)
  • $400,000 to $499,99921,242 (10.4%)
  • $500,000 to $749,99913,071 (6.4%)
  • $150,000 to $174,99910,195 (5.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

22.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

87.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

57.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$37,093

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

30.5 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

5.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone259,063 (75.0%)
  • Worked At Home42,804 (12.4%)
  • Carpooled30,473 (8.8%)
  • Other4,961 (1.4%)
  • Walked3,729 (1.1%)
  • Bicycle1,412 (0.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.