Gulf County, Florida

Gulf County
Gulf County
County
	Gulf County Courthouse
	Seal
	Location within the U.S. state of Florida
	Florida's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 29°54′N 85°14′W / 29.9°N 85.24°W
Country	United States
State	Florida
Founded	June 6, 1925
Named for	Gulf of Mexico
Seat	Port St. Joe
Largest city	Port St. Joe
Area
• Total	756 sq mi (1,960 km2)
• Land	564 sq mi (1,460 km2)
• Water	192 sq mi (500 km2) 25.4%
Population (2020)
• Total	14,192
• Density	28.6/sq mi (11.0/km2)
Time zones
Southern portion	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Northern portion	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Website	www.gulfcounty-fl.gov

Gulf County is a county in the panhandle of the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2020, 14,192 people lived there.^[1] Its county seat is Port St. Joe, Florida.^[2]

History

Gulf County, created in 1925, was named for the Gulf of Mexico. Wewahitchka was its first county seat and the 1927 Gulf County Courthouse is still there. In 1965, the county seat was moved to Port Saint Joe, which under its original name Saint Joseph, had been the site of Florida's first Constitutional Convention in 1838.

Land

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 756 square miles (1,960 km²), of which 564 square miles (1,460 km²) is land and 192 square miles (500 km²) (25.4%) is water.^[3]

Gulf County is one of a few counties in the United States to be in two time zones, Eastern and Central in this case. Other examples include Idaho County, Idaho, and Malheur County, Oregon, having parts in both Mountain and Pacific Time Zones as well as Cherry County, Nebraska which is in both the Mountain and Central Time Zones.

Counties nearby

National protected area

St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge (part)

People

At the 2020 census, 14,192 people lived in the county. There were 5,571 households and 1,233 people who did not live in households. The population density was 25.6 people per square mile (9.9/km²). The median age was 48.8 years (46.7 for males, 51.5 for females).

Of the total population, 16.7% were under 18 years old, 58.7% were 18 to 64, and 24.6% were 65 or over. Males made up 53.4% and females made up 46.6% of the people. The population was 79.1% White (non-Latino), 11.9% Black (non-Latino), 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, and 4.0% Two or more races (non-Latino). Other races each made up less than 1% of the population.

Of the 5,571 households, 3,656 (65.6%) were families, 1,323 (23.7%) had children under 18, 2,732 (49.0%) had a married couple, and 1,570 (28.2%) had one person living alone. The average household size was 2.3 people. There were 8,796 housing units, and 63.3% had people living in them all year, while 23.9% were for seasonal use (part of the year). Of the households, 78.9% were owner-occupied, while 21.1% were renters.^[4]^[5]

As of 2022, the median (middle) yearly income for a household was about $56,250, and the median income for a family was about $70,654.^[6] The per capita income was about $30,011.^[7] About 9.7% of families^[8] and 12.3% of all people in Gulf County lived below the poverty line. This includes 15.2% of children under 18 years old and 6.1% of people over 65 years old.^[9]

Cities and towns

Politics

Gulf County is heavily Republican. As of 2023, the county is represented by Republican Neal Dunn in the US House of Representatives.

United States presidential election results for Gulf County, Florida^[10]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	6,113	74.80%	1,985	24.29%	74	0.91%
2016	5,329	72.69%	1,720	23.46%	282	3.85%
2012	4,995	70.10%	2,014	28.26%	117	1.64%
2008	4,980	68.99%	2,149	29.77%	89	1.23%
2004	4,805	66.03%	2,407	33.08%	65	0.89%
2000	3,553	57.79%	2,398	39.00%	197	3.20%
1996	2,430	40.55%	2,480	41.39%	1,082	18.06%
1992	2,651	45.29%	1,938	33.11%	1,265	21.61%
1988	3,042	62.44%	1,688	34.65%	142	2.91%
1984	3,573	66.70%	1,784	33.30%	0	0.00%
1980	2,127	43.18%	2,700	54.81%	99	2.01%
1976	1,584	37.00%	2,641	61.69%	56	1.31%
1972	2,628	78.54%	713	21.31%	5	0.15%
1968	364	9.58%	711	18.71%	2,725	71.71%
1964	2,001	54.67%	1,659	45.33%	0	0.00%
1960	657	21.86%	2,348	78.14%	0	0.00%
1956	570	24.12%	1,793	75.88%	0	0.00%
1952	490	21.69%	1,769	78.31%	0	0.00%
1948	146	9.25%	1,219	77.20%	214	13.55%
1944	83	6.15%	1,267	93.85%	0	0.00%
1940	105	6.01%	1,642	93.99%	0	0.00%
1936	71	7.76%	844	92.24%	0	0.00%
1932	30	4.42%	648	95.58%	0	0.00%
1928	156	34.98%	275	61.66%	15	3.36%

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 "QuickFacts: Gulf County, Florida". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
↑ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
↑ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
↑ "DP1: PROFILE OF GENERAL POPULATION AND HOUSING CHARACTERISTICS". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
↑ "P16: HOUSEHOLD TYPE". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
↑ "S1901: Income in the Past 12 Months (in 2022 Inflation-Adjusted Dollars)". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
↑ "S1902: Mean Income in the Past 12 Months (in 2022 Inflation-Adjusted Dollars)". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
↑ "S1702: Poverty Status in the Past 12 Months of Families". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
↑ "S1701: Poverty Status in the Past 12 Months". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
↑ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org.

Other websites

Government links/Constitutional offices