Gulf County, Florida

**Gulf County** is a county in the panhandle of the U.S. state of Florida.  As of 2020, 14,192 people lived there. Its county seat is Port St. Joe, Florida.

## History

Gulf County, created in 1925, was named for the Gulf of Mexico. Wewahitchka was its first county seat and the 1927 Gulf County Courthouse is still there. In 1965, the county seat was moved to Port Saint Joe, which under its original name Saint Joseph, had been the site of Florida's first Constitutional Convention in 1838.

## Land

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which  is land and  (25.4%) is water.

Gulf County is one of a few counties in the United States to be in two time zones, Eastern and Central in this case.  Other examples include Idaho County, Idaho, and Malheur County, Oregon, having parts in both Mountain and Pacific Time Zones as well as Cherry County, Nebraska which is in both the Mountain and Central Time Zones.

### Counties nearby

- Calhoun County, Florida - north
- Liberty County, Florida - northeast
- Franklin County, Florida - east
- Bay County, Florida - west

### National protected area

- St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge (part)

## People

At the 2020 census, 14,192 people lived in the county. There were 5,571 households and 1,233 people who did not live in households. The population density was 25.6 people per square mile (9.9/km²). The median age was 48.8 years (46.7 for males, 51.5 for females).

Of the total population, 16.7% were under 18 years old, 58.7% were 18 to 64, and 24.6% were 65 or over. Males made up 53.4% and females made up 46.6% of the people. The population was 79.1% White (non-Latino), 11.9% Black (non-Latino), 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, and 4.0% _Two or more races_ (non-Latino). Other races each made up less than 1% of the population.

Of the 5,571 households, 3,656 (65.6%) were families, 1,323 (23.7%) had children under 18, 2,732 (49.0%) had a married couple, and 1,570 (28.2%) had one person living alone. The average household size was 2.3 people. There were 8,796 housing units, and 63.3% had people living in them all year, while 23.9% were for seasonal use (part of the year). Of the households, 78.9% were owner-occupied, while 21.1% were renters.

As of 2022, the median (middle) yearly income for a household was about $56,250, and the median income for a family was about $70,654. The per capita income was about $30,011. About 9.7% of families and 12.3% of all people in Gulf County lived below the poverty line. This includes 15.2% of children under 18 years old and 6.1% of people over 65 years old.

## Cities and towns

- Port St. Joe
- Wewahitchka
- Dalkeith
- Highland View
- Honeyville
- Overstreet
- White City

## Politics

Gulf County is heavily Republican. As of 2023, the county is represented by Republican Neal Dunn in the US House of Representatives.

### Government links/Constitutional offices

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

#### Special districts

- Gulf County School District
- Northwest Florida Water Management District

#### Judicial branch

- Gulf County Clerk of Courts
- Circuit and County Court for the 14th Judicial Circuit of Florida serving Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson and Washington counties

### Tourism links

- Gulf County Tourism Development Council

### Business links

- Gulf County Chamber of Commerce

## Infobox (u.s. county)

- **county**: Gulf County
- **state**: Florida
- **seal**: Gulf County Seal.png
- **founded year**: 1925
- **founded date**: June 6
- **seat wl**: Port St. Joe
- **largest city wl**: Port St. Joe
- **area total sq mi**: 756
- **area land sq mi**: 564
- **area water sq mi**: 192
- **area percentage**: 25.4%
- **census yr**: 2020
- **pop**: 14192
- **density sq mi**: 28.6
- **web**: www.gulfcounty-fl.gov/
- **time zone 1**: Eastern
- **tz note 1**: Southern portion
- **time zone 2**: Central
- **tz note 2**: Northern portion
- **ex image**: PSJ FL new crths02.jpg
- **ex image cap**: Gulf County Courthouse
- **named for**: Gulf of Mexico