Collier County, Florida

Collier County, Florida
Flag Seal
Location in the state of Florida
Florida's location in the U.S.
Founded	May 8, 1923
Seat	Naples, Florida
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	2,304.93 sq mi (5,970 km²) 2,025.34 sq mi (5,246 km²) 279.59 sq mi (724 km²), 12.13%
Population  - (2010)  - Density	321,520 159/sq mi (61.28/km²)
Website	www.co.collier.fl.us

Collier County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 251,377. The U.S. Census Bureau 2007 estimate for the county is 315,839.^[1] Its county seat is Naples.^[2]

Collier County is coextensive with the Naples-Marco Island, 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. Naples and Marco Island are designated as the MSA's principal cities. The Naples, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area was first defined in 1990. Marco Island was added as a principal city and the name changed to its present form in 2003.

History

Collier County was created in 1923 from Lee County. It was named for Barron Collier, a New York City advertising mogul and real estate developer who had moved into Southwest Florida and established himself as a prominent land owner. He agreed to build the Tamiami Trail for what was then Lee County (Lee, Collier, Hendry, Glades & Charlotte Counties) in exchange for favorable consideration with the state legislature to have a county named for him. After the county was named, Collier was quoted as saying "When I first came here on holiday with Juliet, I never expected that I would buy a whole region of it, nor did I expect to pay for the new Tamiami Trail, or half the things I've done. But I really didn't expect to have a whole county named after me."

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 2,304.93 square miles (5,969.7 km²), of which 2,025.34 square miles (5,245.6 km²) (or 87.87%) is land and 279.59 square miles (724.1 km²) (or 12.13%) is water.^[3] This makes Collier county the second largest county in the state of Florida (Palm Beach County being the largest). Virtually the entire southeastern portion of the county lies within the Big Cypress National Preserve. The northernmost portion of Everglades National Park extends into the southern coastal part of the county.

Collier County is the sole county in the Naples-Marco Island Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Adjacent counties

Collier County is located at the southern end of Florida's Gulf Coast, and bounded by:

• Hendry County, Florida - north
• Broward County, Florida - east
• Miami-Dade County, Florida - southeast
• Monroe County, Florida - south
• Lee County, Florida - northwest

National protected areas

• Big Cypress National Preserve (part)
• Everglades National Park (part)
• Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge
• Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge

Major highways

• Interstate 75
• U.S. Route 41
• State Road 29
• State Road 84
• State Road 951

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1930	2,883		—
1940	5,102		77.0%
1950	6,488		27.2%
1960	15,753		142.8%
1970	38,040		141.5%
1980	85,971		126.0%
1990	152,099		76.9%
2000	251,377		65.3%
2010	321,520		27.9%
[4][5]

As of the census^[6] of 2000, there were 251,377 people, 102,973 households, and 71,257 families residing in the county. The population density was 124 people per square mile (48/km²). There were 144,536 housing units at an average density of 71 per square mile (28/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 86.06% White, 4.54% Black or African American, 0.29% Native American, 0.62% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 6.19% from other races, and 2.23% from two or more races. 19.61% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 75.3% spoke English, 17.8% Spanish, 2.3% French Creole and 1.2% German as their first language.

As of 2005 68.6% of the population was non-Hispanic whites, 24.4% was Latino or Hispanic, 5.9% was African-American and 0.9% was Asian.^[7]

In 2000 there were 102,973 households out of which 22.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.10% were married couples living together, 7.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.80% were non-families. 24.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.79.

In the county the population was spread out with 19.90% under the age of 18, 6.60% from 18 to 24, 24.60% from 25 to 44, 24.50% from 45 to 64, and 24.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 100.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $48,289, and the median income for a family was $54,816. Males had a median income of $32,639 versus $26,371 for females. The per capita income for the county was $31,195. About 6.60% of families and 10.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.20% of those under age 18 and 4.30% of those age 65 or over. As of 2007 the population of Collier County peaked to 414,611, a record high.^[8]

Communities

Municipalities

• Everglades City
• Marco Island
• Naples

Unincorporated communities

• Ave Maria
• Chokoloskee
• East Naples
• Golden Gate
• Goodland
• Immokalee
• Lely Resort
• Lely
• Naples Manor
• Naples Park
• Ochopee
• Orangetree
• Pelican Bay
• Pine Ridge
• Plantation Island
• Vineyards

Education

The county's public schools are operated by the District School Board of Collier County.

Politics

Collier County Presidential elections results

Year	Winner	Loser	Other
Year	Republican	Democratic	Other
2008	60.8%	38.4%	0.8%
2004	65.0%	34.1%	0.9%
2000	65.6%	32.5%	1.9%
1996	58.7%	32.0%	9.3%
1992	53.4%	26.1%	20.5%
1988	74.9%	24.6%	0.5%

In popular culture

Collier County was featured in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) as the home of fictional athlete Ray Finkle, described in the film as "the only professional athlete to come out of Collier County." Ace visits Collier to find Ray's family.

It was also shown in the Showtime series Dexter at the rest stop meeting between Dexter and the Trinity Killer.

See also

Florida portal

• Keewaydin Club
• Old Collier County Courthouse
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Collier County, Florida

References

1. ^ "Table with row headers in column A and column headers in rows 3 through 4 (leading dots indicate sub-parts)". census.gov. http://www.census.gov/popest/counties/tables/CO-EST2007-01-12.csv. Retrieved 18 December 2010. 
2. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
3. ^ "Census 2000 U.S. Gazetteer Files: Counties". United States Census. http://www.census.gov/tiger/tms/gazetteer/county2k.txt. Retrieved 2011-02-13. 
4. ^ http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/cencounts/files/fl190090.txt
5. ^ http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_PL_QTPL&prodType=table
6. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
7. ^ "Collier County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau". Quickfacts.census.gov. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/12/12021.html. Retrieved 2010-07-22. 
8. ^ "Collier County : Population and Demographics". Colliergov.net. http://www.colliergov.net/Index.aspx?page=262. Retrieved 2010-07-22. 

External links

Government links/Constitutional offices

• Collier County official website / Board of County Commissioners official website
• Collier County Supervisor of Elections
• Collier County Property Appraiser
• Collier County Sheriff's Office
• Collier County Tax Collector

Special districts

• Collier County Public Schools
• South Florida Water Management District

Judicial branch

• Collier County Clerk of Courts
• Public Defender, 20th Judicial Circuit serving Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry and Lee Counties
• Office of the State Attorney, 20th Judicial Circuit
• Circuit and County Court for the 20th Judicial Circuit of Florida

Tourism links

• Naples Marco Island Everglades Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Naples Florida

Coordinates: 26°05′N 81°24′W / 26.08°N 81.40°W / 26.08; -81.40