St. Lucie County, Florida

Infobox U.S. County
county = Saint Lucie County
state = Florida


founded = March 14 1844
Largest City = Port St. Lucie
seat = Fort Pierce | area_total_sq_mi =688
area_land_sq_mi =572
area_water_sq_mi =116
area percentage = 16.80%
census yr = 2000
pop = 192695
density_km2 =130
web = www.stlucieco.gov/
named for = Saint Lucie of Syracuse|

St. Lucie County is a county located in the state of Florida. The county seat is the City of Fort Pierce. As of 2000, the population was 192,695. The U.S. Census Bureau 2005 estimate for the county is 241,305 [http://www.census.gov/popest/counties/tables/CO-EST2005-01-12.xls] . St. Lucie County is governed by a six member Board of County Commissioners. The primary law enforcement body of St. Lucie County is the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office. The Sheriff of St. Lucie County is Ken Mascara.

History

The current St. Lucie County was created in 1905 from the southern part of Brevard County. Brevard County had been named St. Lucie County from 1844 until 1855 when it was renamed Brevard County. In 1925, Indian River County was created out of the northern part of St Lucie County, while Martin County was created from a small part of southeastern St. Lucie County and the northern part of Palm Beach County. Much of western St Lucie County had gone in 1917 to form Okeechobee County.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 688 square miles (1,782 km²), of which, 572 square miles (1,483 km²) of it is land and 116 square miles (299 km²) of it is water, much of it in the Atlantic Ocean. The total area is 16.80% water.

St. Lucie County is part of the Port St. Lucie Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Adjacent Counties

*Indian River County, Florida - north
*Martin County, Florida - south
*Okeechobee County, Florida - west

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 192,695 people, 76,933 households, and 54,237 families residing in the county. The population density was 337 people per square mile (130/km²). There were 91,262 housing units at an average density of 159 per square mile (62/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 79.14% White, 15.42% African American, 0.24% Native American, 0.95% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 2.37% from other races, and 1.82% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.16% of the population. 86.6% spoke English, 7.6% Spanish, 1.6% French Creole and 1.0% French as their first language. 3.3% of the population identified themselves as being of non-Hispanic West Indian Ancestry. (Source=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ThematicMapFramesetServlet?_bm=y&-context=tm&-tm_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U_M00139&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U&-CONTEXT=tm&-tree_id=403&-all_geo_types=N&-geo_id=04000US12&-format=&-_lang=en#?360,221)

In 2005 St. Lucie county had a population that was 69.2% non-Hispanic white, 16.5% African-American, 12.4% Latino and 1.3% Asian. (Source=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/12/12111.html).

In 2000 there were 76,933 households out of which 26.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.30% were married couples living together, 11.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.50% were non-families. 23.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the county the population was spread out with 22.60% under the age of 18, 6.60% from 18 to 24, 25.10% from 25 to 44, 23.00% from 45 to 64, and 22.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 95.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $36,363, and the median income for a family was $41,381. Males had a median income of $30,047 versus $22,684 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,790. About 9.60% of families and 13.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.50% of those under age 18 and 7.70% of those age 65 or over.

Municipalities

Incorporated

# City of Fort Pierce
# City of Port St. Lucie
# Village of St. Lucie

Unincorporated

*Ankona
*Eden
*Eldred
*Fort Pierce North
*Fort Pierce South
*Hutchinson Island South
*Indian River Estates
*Lakewood Park
* North Hutchinson Island
*River Park
*Walton
*White City

Education

Schools in the county are managed by St. Lucie County Public Schools.

References

External links

Governmental

* Board of County Commissioners
** [http://www.stlucieco.gov/ St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners]

* Constitutional officers
** [http://www.slcclerkofcourt.com/ St. Lucie County Clerk]
** [http://www.slcelections.com/ St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections]
** [http://www.paslc.org/ St. Lucie County Property Appraiser]
** [http://www.stluciesheriff.com/ St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office]
** [http://www.tcslc.com/ St. Lucie County Tax Collector]

* School district
** [http://www.stlucie.k12.fl.us/ St. Lucie County School District]

* Multi-county districts
** [http://www.ircc.edu/portal/layout_Default.aspx?PortalPageID=740 Indian River Community College]
** [http://www.sfwmd.gov South Florida Water Management District]
** [http://www.tcrpc.org/ Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council]

* Judicial branch
** [http://www.slcclerkofcourt.com/ St. Lucie County Clerk of Courts]
** [http://www.pd19.org/ Public Defender, 19th Judicial Circuit of Florida]
** [http://www.martin.fl.us/GOVT/co/jud/ State Attorney, 19th Judicial Circuit of Florida]
** [http://www.circuit19.org/ Circuit and County Courts for the 19th Judicial Circuit of Florida]

Non-governmental

* [http://www.co.st-lucie.fl.us/tourism/index.html St. Lucie County Tourism Web Site]