| Flagler County, Florida | |
Location in the state of Florida |
|
Florida's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | 28 April 1917 |
|---|---|
| Seat | Bunnell |
| Largest city | Palm Coast |
| Area - Total - Land - Water |
570.76 sq mi (1,478 km²) 485.00 sq mi (1,256 km²) 85.77 sq mi (222 km²), 15.03% |
| Population - (2010) - Density |
95,696 197/sq mi (76.19/km²) |
| Website | www.flaglercounty.org |
Flagler County is a county on the east coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Created in 1917 from portions of Saint Johns and Volusia counties, it was named for Henry Morrison Flagler, who built the Florida East Coast Railway. Bunnell is the county seat of Flagler County.[1]
In 1974, Marco Polo Park, a theme park off Interstate 95 opened. It was never profitable and closed soon after.
In 1998, when two brush fires threatened to become one huge brush fire in Flagler County, a mandatory evacuation was ordered for the entire county. This was the first and so far the only time a whole county was evacuated in Florida. Flagler is also a sports town. Three Flagler baseball teams have made it to the State Tournament in the last 2 years.[1]
Flagler County is coextensive with the Palm Coast, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) designated by the Office of Management and Budget and used for statistical purposes by the Census Bureau and other agencies Palm Coast is designated as the MSA's principal city. The Palm Coast, Florida MSA was first defined as a Metropolitan Statistical Area in 2006. Before that date it was designated a micropolitan statistical area.[2]
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According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 570.76 square miles (1,478.3 km2), of which 485.00 square miles (1,256.1 km2) (or 84.97%) is land and 85.77 square miles (222.1 km2) (or 15.03%) is water.[3]
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1920 | 2,442 |
|
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| 1930 | 2,466 | 1.0% | |
| 1940 | 3,008 | 22.0% | |
| 1950 | 3,367 | 11.9% | |
| 1960 | 4,566 | 35.6% | |
| 1970 | 4,454 | −2.5% | |
| 1980 | 10,913 | 145.0% | |
| 1990 | 28,701 | 163.0% | |
| 2000 | 49,832 | 73.6% | |
| 2010 | 95,696 | 92.0% | |
| [4][5] | |||
As of the census[6] of 2000, there were 49,832 people, 21,294 households, and 15,672 families residing in the county. The population density was 103 people per square mile (40/km²). There were 24,452 housing units at an average density of 50 per square mile (19/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 87.27% White, 8.83% Black or African American, 0.27% Native American, 1.17% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.96% from other races, and 1.47% from two or more races. 5.09% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 90.1% spoke English, 5.0% Spanish and 1.2% German as their first language.
1.8% of the population identified themselves as being of non-Hispanic West Indian Ancestry. [2]
In 2000 there were 21,294 households out of which 21.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.80% were married couples living together, 8.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.40% were non-families. 21.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.67.
In the county the population was spread out with 17.90% under the age of 18, 4.80% from 18 to 24, 20.30% from 25 to 44, 28.30% from 45 to 64, and 28.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 50 years. For every 100 females there were 92.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.90 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $40,214, and the median income for a family was $45,625. Males had a median income of $31,184 versus $24,865 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,879. About 6.70% of families and 8.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.70% of those under age 18 and 4.40% of those age 65 or over.
Flagler county was ranked the fastest-growing county in the nation by the US Census Bureau from 2000 to 2005, boasting a 53.3% change, with a July 1, 2005 population estimate at 76,410.
Due in large part to its rapidly changing demographics, Flagler County is often an unpredictable county in presidential and other elections, although the general trend has been towards the Democratic party in recent years.
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 48.7% | 50.2% | 1.1% |
| 2004 | 51.0% | 48.3% | 0.7% |
| 2000 | 46.5% | 51.3% | 2.2% |
| 1996 | 41.0% | 47.7% | 11.3% |
| 1992 | 38.2% | 40.9% | 20.9% |
| 1988 | 60.3% | 39.4% | 0.3% |
Flagler County Public Schools enroll about 13,000 students.[3] It includes two public high schools, Flagler Palm Coast and Matanzas High School. The county also has 5 elementary schools and 2 middle schools. all elementary schools will be pre-k to 6 and middle 7&8.
Flagler county schools are:
In addition, Daytona State College maintains a branch campus in Palm Coast.
| St. Johns County | ||||
| Putnam County | Atlantic Ocean | |||
| Flagler County, Florida | ||||
| Volusia County |
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