St. Lucie County, Florida

St. Lucie County is a county in the state of Florida.  The county seat is the city of Fort Pierce.  As of 2000, 192,695 people lived there.  The 2005 census estimate for the county was 241,305.

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 northern 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.

Land
According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of , of which  (or 83.20%) is land and  (or 16.80%) is water, much of it in the Atlantic Ocean.

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

Major highways
 Interstate 95
 U.S. Highway 1
 Florida State Road 716
 Florida State Road 70
 Florida State Road 68
 Florida State Road 615
 Florida State Road 614
 Florida's Turnpike
 Florida State Road A1A
 Florida State Road 608
 Florida State Road 607
 Florida State Road 713

Counties nearby
Indian River County, Florida - north
Martin County, Florida - south
Okeechobee County, Florida - west

People
As of the census of 2000, there were 192,695 people, 76,933 households, and 54,237 families living 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.

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.

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 not related. 23.50% of all households were made up of people living alone 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.

Cities and towns

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
St. Lucie West
Tradition
Walton
White City

Education
Schools in the county are managed by St. Lucie County Public Schools.
 Florida Atlantic University PSL Campus
 Indian River State College Ft. Pierce and PSL Campus
 Keiser University PSL Campus
 University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural  Sciences, Ft. Pierce
 Barry University PSL Campus

Points of interest 
 St. Lucie County Regional History Center
 St. Lucie County Marine Center 
 Experimental Oculina Research Reserve
 Heathcote Botanical Gardens
 Old Fort Park
 St. Lucie County International Airport
 US Navy UDT-SEAL Museum (Fort Pierce was the original home of the Navy SEALs)

References

Other websites

Governmental

Board of County Commissioners
St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners

Constitutional officers
St. Lucie County Clerk
St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections
St. Lucie County Property Appraiser
St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office
St. Lucie County Tax Collector

School district
St. Lucie County School District

Multi-county districts
Indian River Community College 
South Florida Water Management District
Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council

Judicial branch
St. Lucie County Clerk of Courts
 Public Defender, 19th Judicial Circuit of Florida
 State Attorney, 19th Judicial Circuit of Florida
 Circuit and County Courts for the 19th Judicial Circuit of Florida

Non-governmental
 St. Lucie County Tourism Web Site 

Florida counties
1844 establishments in Florida Territory