county

Okeechobee County, FL

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

AI Overview

Okeechobee County is a small, agriculture-rooted community of about 40,000 residents with a labor force participation rate of just 49.2% and an unemployment rate of 6.0%, reflecting a workforce that skews toward seasonal and rural employment patterns. Educational attainment is relatively low, with only 16.1% of residents holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and median worker earnings stand at $35,151 against a median household income of $57,984. Housing costs remain well below national norms—median home values at $179,000 and median rent at $974/month—though a 19.0% poverty rate and a slight population decline of -0.8% over five years signal ongoing economic headwinds.

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

Population

40,249

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$57,984

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

40.8 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-0.8% since 2018

Okeechobee County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone28,213 (69.1%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race5,099 (12.5%)
  • Black or African American Alone3,147 (7.7%)
  • Some Other Race Alone2,766 (6.8%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races1,136 (2.8%)
  • Asian Alone313 (0.8%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish7,381
  2. 2.Other Indo-European235
  3. 3.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)178
  4. 4.German or other West Germanic160
  5. 5.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)110

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

21.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

58.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

20.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

13.4%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

2,636

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$54,200

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$27,836

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

6.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

19.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance3,234
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)2,090
  3. 3.Construction (Group)1,923
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services1,818
  5. 5.Public Administration (Group)1,640

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations4,781
  2. 2.Service Occupations3,743
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations3,068
  4. 4.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations2,588
  5. 5.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations1,779

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 3.81×)922
  2. 2.Public Administration (LQ 2.15×)1,539
  3. 3.Construction (LQ 1.53×)1,603
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.37×)1,823
  5. 5.Retail Trade (LQ 1.17×)1,924

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$179,000

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$974/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

73.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $300,000 to $399,9991,503 (13.5%)
  • $200,000 to $249,9991,456 (13.0%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999988 (8.9%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999938 (8.4%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999810 (7.3%)
  • $400,000 to $499,999787 (7.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

16.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

80.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

49.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$35,151

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

28.4 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

4.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone11,624 (74.0%)
  • Carpooled2,029 (12.9%)
  • Worked At Home1,043 (6.6%)
  • Other338 (2.2%)
  • Walked273 (1.7%)
  • Bicycle175 (1.1%)

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.