Santa Rosa County, Florida Demographics
Population trends, housing costs, income, commuting, and health, all on one page.
Santa Rosa County, FL Population Density Map and Area Scores
Area Score
Health, income and education, each graded from F to A+. Explore interactive maps for deeper analysis.
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B
Health Around averageHealthier than 85% of counties in Florida
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B
Income Around averageWealthier than 86% of counties in Florida
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C
Education Below averageBetter educated than 70% of counties in Florida
Source: Map AI Methodology
Population: density and quick facts
| Metric | Santa Rosa County | Florida Avg | U.S. Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 198,472 | 22,388,905 | 337,468,954 |
| Population density (per sq mi) | 162.5 | 313.4 | 86.4 |
| Population growth (%/yr) | 2.35% | 1.47% | 0.59% |
| Median age | 40.1 | 40.2 | 37.3 |
| Households | 72,605 | 8,743,019 | 130,235,071 |
Population in Santa Rosa County grew by 33.9% from 2009 to 2024, reaching 198,472 in 2024.
Population Growth 2009–2024
Race & Ethnicity
Age & Sex
The largest generation in Santa Rosa County is Gen X, aged 45–60, at 22.0% of residents. That is 1.3 points above Florida as a whole.
- Gen Z 13–28 40,018 20.2% +0.7 pts
- Millennials 29–44 43,282 21.8% +1.2 pts
- Gen X 45–60 43,679 22.0% +1.3 pts
- Boomers 61–79 33,598 16.9% -2.7 pts
Residents by birth cohort, from the 2025 age distribution. The right-hand figure is how far each cohort's share sits above or below Florida, in percentage points. Children younger than Gen Z and the generations before the Boomers are counted in the population but not shown here, so these shares do not add up to 100%.
Male and female share
Women are 48.9% of the people living in Santa Rosa County and men 51.1%.
- Women 48.9% Florida 51.0%
- Men 51.1% Florida 49.0%
How many residents match a customer profile?
Residents matching this profile
100% of everyone living in Santa Rosa County
Pick an age range and a women/men split and the figure above answers with how many residents that profile reaches.
Economy
Santa Rosa County has a the economy index of B, which means it is quite prosperous.
| Metric | Santa Rosa County | Florida Avg | U.S. Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $92,227 | $74,580 | $80,455 |
| Income growth (%/yr) | 5.40% | 5.42% | 4.80% |
| Unemployment rate | 4.2% | 4.8% | 5.2% |
The median household income in Santa Rosa County is about 24% higher than in Florida.
Housing
| Metric | Santa Rosa County | Florida Avg | U.S. Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median home price | $261,734 | $311,338 | $248,835 |
| Median rent | $1,544 | $1,668 | $1,407 |
| Homeownership rate | 80.6% | 67.6% | 65.2% |
The median home price in Santa Rosa County is about 14.1 years' worth of rent — buying at the median price costs roughly as much as paying the median rent of $1,544 per month for that long.
Commute Time & Mobility
Commuters in Santa Rosa County spend about 58 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 240 hours, about 10.0 full days, spent commuting.
| Metric | Santa Rosa County | Florida Avg | U.S. Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-way commute (min) | 28.8 | 24.0 | 22.4 |
| Round-trip commute (min) | 57.7 | 47.9 | 44.8 |
| Yearly time spent (hours) | 240 | 200 | 187 |
| Estimated yearly cost | $7,453 | $6,189 | $5,790 |
| Work from home | 12.7% | 15.7% | 15.0% |
| Highway traffic (vehicles/day) | 13,841 | 14,318 | 8,813 |
| Local road traffic (vehicles/day) | 2,421 | 3,068 | 1,355 |
Fastest commutes among counties in
Florida:
Taylor County (13.8 min), Monroe County (16.1 min), Franklin County (16.6 min).
Slowest:
Washington County (32.8 min), Osceola County (32.3 min), Liberty County (32.1 min).
The average commute time in Santa Rosa County is 29 minutes, longer than the 24 minutes in Florida.
Estimated yearly cost applies a single national wage rule of thumb (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics average hourly earnings), not a measurement of wages in this area. Traffic volume figures come from proprietary Ticon and TrafficZoom data.
Education & Households
Santa Rosa County has a education index of C, which means it is somewhat educated.
| Metric | Santa Rosa County | Florida Avg | U.S. Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 28.5% | 30.1% | 31.6% |
| Average household size | 2.67 | 2.50 | 2.53 |
Highest education index among counties in
Florida:
St. Johns County (0.4), Leon County (0.4), Alachua County (0.4).
Lowest:
Hamilton County (0.1), Hendry County (0.1), Hardee County (0.1).
Health
Santa Rosa County has a health index of B, which means it is quite healthy.
| Metric | Santa Rosa County | Florida Avg | U.S. Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy (years) | 77.2 | 77.2 | 78.3 |
| Self-rated poor health | 14.6% | 19.5% | 16.3% |
| Smokers | 21.0% | 21.3% | 19.0% |
Highest health index among counties in
Florida:
St. Johns County (0.8), Seminole County (0.8), Alachua County (0.8).
Lowest:
Glades County (0.8), Putnam County (0.8), Hendry County (0.8).
Santa Rosa County, FL Compared With Nearby Counties
Santa Rosa County, FL is typical in size for this group, 198,472 residents against a local median of 231,785, so the measures below are close to a like for like comparison. Where Santa Rosa County, FL breaks from the counties next to it is commute, sitting 36% above the local median of 21.2 min at 28.8 min. That is the weaker end of the local range on this measure.
Median household income tells the same story from another angle: $92,227 against a local median of $73,286, 26% above it. The picture is mixed rather than uniform: median household income runs ahead of the neighbourhood while commute runs behind it, so Santa Rosa County, FL is trading one against the other rather than simply out-performing what surrounds it. The counties themselves sit within 4.7 min of each other on commute, a tighter band than the gap between any of them and Santa Rosa County, FL, which makes it a genuine outlier here rather than one end of a wide local spread. Santa Rosa County, FL has the 5th lowest commute of the 5 areas compared here.
| Area | Population | Median household income | Median home price | Commute |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Rosa County, FL | 198,472 | $92,227 #1/5 | $261,734 #3/5 | 28.8 min #5/5 |
| Escambia County, FL | 325,414 | $68,372 | $207,911 | 20.5 min |
| Okaloosa County, FL | 216,584 | $82,690 | $454,665 | 21.8 min |
| Escambia County, AL | 36,629 | $48,221 | $183,962 | 18.5 min |
| Baldwin County, AL | 246,985 | $78,200 | $295,602 | 23.2 min |
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Santa Rosa County, Florida.
How many people live in Santa Rosa County, Florida?
About 198,472 people live in Santa Rosa County, Florida, in 72,605 households of 2.7 people on average. The median age is 40.1, so residents are older than the U.S. median of 37.3 by about 3 years.
Is Santa Rosa County, Florida urban or rural?
Averaged over its land area, Santa Rosa County, Florida has 163 people per square mile, a density typical of a mix of suburbs, small towns and farmland. That is about 1.9 times the U.S. average of 86.
Can a typical household afford a home in Santa Rosa County, Florida?
The median home costs 2.8 times the median household income ($261,734 against $92,227), compared with 3.1 times nationally. That is within the traditional rule of thumb of about 3 times income. Median rent of $1,544 a month takes about 20% of the median household's income, below the 30% level at which HUD considers renters cost-burdened.
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