Gadsden County, Florida

**Gadsden County** is a county in the panhandle of the U.S. state of Florida.  As of the 2020 census, 43,826 people lived there. Its county seat is Quincy, Florida. Gadsden County is the only majority African American county in Florida. Gadsden County is home to only one public high school - Gadsden County High School, located on Highway 90 east of Quincy.

The county is part of the Tallahassee, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.

## History

Gadsden County was created in 1823. It was named for James Gadsden of South Carolina. He was Andrew Jackson's aide-de-camp in Florida in 1818.

There were once only two high schools that blacks in Gadsden County could attend: Carter-Parramore (which is now a middle school) and Stevens High Schools.

## Land

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which  is land and  (2.3%) is water.

Gadsden County is part of the Tallahassee Metropolitan Statistical Area.  Gadsden County is in the Eastern Time Zone.  Its western border with Jackson County forms the boundary in this area between the Eastern and Central Time Zones.

### Counties nearby

- Decatur County, Georgia - north
- Seminole County, Georgia - north
- Grady County, Georgia - northeast
- Leon County, Florida - east
- Liberty County, Florida - southwest
- Calhoun County, Florida - southwest
- Jackson County, Florida - northwest

## Education

|colspan="4" style="text-align: center; background:darkblue"|<span style="color:white">**Level of Education**</span>||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|**Level**|**Gadsden Co.**|**Florida**|**U.S.**||
|colspan="4"|<hr>||||
|College/Associate Degree|21.9%|28.8%|27.4%||
|Bachelor's Degree|8.0%|14.3%|15.5%||
|Master's or Ph. D.|4.9%|8.1%|8.9%||
|Total|34.8%|51.2%|51.8%||

## Politics

Gadsden County is known for being a stronghold of the Democratic Party in north Florida, along with Leon County and Jefferson County to its east, and Alachua County to its southeast.

## People

Gadsden County is the state's only county with an African American majority population. At the 2020 census, 43,826 people lived in the county. There were 16,806 households and 2,073 people who did not live in households. The population density was 84.9 people per square mile (32.8/km²). The median age was 43.4 years (41.7 for males, 45.1 for females).

Of the total population, 21.0% were under 18 years old, 59.0% were 18 to 64, and 20.0% were 65 or over. Males made up 48.7% and females made up 51.3% of the people. The population was 53.2% Black (non-Latino), 32.2% White (non-Latino), 11.6% Hispanic or Latino, and 2.2% _Two or more races_ (non-Latino). Less than 1% of the people were from other races.

Of the 16,806 households, 11,239 (66.9%) were families, 4,883 (29.1%) had children under 18, 6,521 (38.8%) had a married couple, and 4,772 (28.4%) had one person living alone. The average household size was 2.5 people. There were 18,929 housing units, and 88.8% had people living in them all year. Of these households, 72.6% were owner-occupied, while 27.4% were renters.

As of 2022, the median (middle) yearly income for a household was about $45,721, and the median income for a family was about $56,527. The per capita income was about $23,898. About 17.6% of families and 25.5% of all people in Gadsden County lived below the poverty line. This includes 41.2% of children under 18 years old and 13.3% of people over 65 years old.

## Cities and towns

- City of Chattahoochee
- Town of Greensboro
- City of Gretna
- Town of Havana
- City of Midway
- City of Quincy

## References

- _Gadsden: a Florida County in Word and Picture_, by Miles Kenan Womack, Jr.

### Government links/Constitutional offices

- Gadsden County Board of County Commissioners
- Gadsden County Supervisor of Elections
- Gadsden County Property Appraiser
- Gadsden County Sheriff's Office
- Gadsden County Tax Collector

#### Special districts

- Gadsden County Schools
- Northwest Florida Water Management District

#### Judicial branch

- Gadsden County Clerk of Courts
- Public Defender, 2nd Judicial Circuit of Florida  serving  Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, and Wakulla counties
- Office of the State Attorney, 2nd Judicial Circuit of Florida
- Circuit and County Court for the 2nd Judicial Circuit of Florida

### Tourism links

- Apalachicola Bay Chamber of Commerce
- The Original Florida Tourism Task Force
- Official Gadsden County Tourism website

## Infobox (u.s. county)

- **county**: Gadsden County
- **state**: Florida
- **seal**: Seal of Gadsden County, Florida.png
- **seal size**: 150px
- **founded year**: 1823
- **founded date**: June 24
- **seat wl**: Quincy
- **largest city wl**: Quincy
- **area total sq mi**: 529
- **area land sq mi**: 516
- **area water sq mi**: 12
- **area percentage**: 2.3%
- **census yr**: 2020
- **pop**: 43826
- **density sq mi**: 83
- **web**: www.gadsdengov.net
- **ex image**: Gadsden County Courthouse (South face).jpg
- **ex image cap**: Gadsden County Courthouse
- **time zone**: Eastern
- **named for**: James Gadsden