Seasonal residents — Sebastian, Florida

About 843 Sebastian homes, 6.5 percent of the city's 12,976 housing units, are held for seasonal, recreational or occasional use in U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 estimates.

The figure comes from table B25004 of the American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year release, the most recent available. Of Sebastian's 12,976 housing units, 11,586 were occupied and 1,390 vacant; the 843 seasonal units make up 60.6 percent of those vacant homes. The other vacant categories in Sebastian are small: 171 for sale, 80 for rent, 33 sold but not yet occupied, and 263 classed as other vacant.

The count has edged up across recent releases, from 730 seasonal units in 2015-2019 to 774 in 2019-2023 and 843 in 2020-2024, while Sebastian's total housing stock grew from 11,590 to 12,976 units across the same releases. Seasonal homes kept roughly the same share of the city, between 6.0 and 6.5 percent, as the stock grew. Each of these is a survey estimate with a margin of error, so the direction is clearer than the exact size of the change. The published tables stop at the city line: they do not split the 843 units among the Sebastian Highlands, the riverfront along Indian River Drive, Sebastian Lakes, the Collier Club or the other neighborhoods, so no official source says which parts of Sebastian hold the most seasonal homes.

The census counts a Sebastian home as seasonal when it is vacant at interview time and held for use only during certain seasons, weekends or occasional stays.

The Census Bureau's housing vacancy definitions say seasonal housing units are those intended for occupancy only during certain seasons of the year and are found primarily in resort areas. A unit held for weekends or occasional use throughout the year also falls in this group. The definitions add a rule that matters on the Indian River Lagoon: a unit occupied temporarily by people who usually live elsewhere is interviewed as a vacant unit, and units occupied by persons with a usual residence elsewhere are further classified as seasonal vacant or year-round vacant. The Bureau's own example is a beach cottage occupied by a family whose usual home is in the city.

That means the 843 figure measures homes, not people. A winter resident whose Sebastian condo is their main home for most of the year is counted as a resident, not a seasonal unit. The Bureau's residence criteria define usual residence as the place where a person lives and sleeps most of the time, and note that this place is not necessarily the same as a person's voting residence or legal residence; the Bureau lists people with a seasonal or second residence among the living arrangements that need special rules. No federal table gives a direct headcount of Sebastian's winter population.

No agency publishes an arrival date for Sebastian's winter residents, but local reporting shows the season peaking around February and many part-time residents gone by July.

The peak is visible on the waterfront. On Feb. 26, 2024, Sebastian Daily reported that securing a spot at any waterfront restaurant in Sebastian had become a challenge as the season peaked, and that the previous weekend every restaurant by the water was filled to capacity with no available parking. Traffic is the other marker: in March 2017 Sebastian Daily described Sebastian and Vero Beach residents reporting snowbird driving habits on US 1, the main north-south road through the city.

The departure shows up in summer volunteer shortages. In July 2025 Sebastian Daily reported that during that time of year the Senior Resource Association faced a shortage of Meals on Wheels drivers across Indian River County, and in July 2026 Sebastian Daily reported that summer is a particularly busy time for the service because many regular volunteers leave town. Air service runs the other way: Breeze Airways' Vero Beach to Raleigh-Durham route, launched May 6, 2026, was described by the airline in Sebastian Daily as seasonal and running only through the summer months.

Sebastian is far more year-round than Indian River County as a whole, with a seasonal share of 6.5 percent of homes against 11.7 percent countywide.

Indian River County counts 10,152 seasonal units among 86,440 housing units in the ACS 2020-2024 estimates, so Sebastian holds about 8 percent of the county's seasonal homes while holding 15 percent of its housing units. The county's higher share comes from communities outside the city; Sebastian's own housing is mostly occupied by owners, with 9,868 owner-occupied and 1,718 renter-occupied units in the same release. Florida as a whole sits between the two, at 7.8 percent seasonal.

The vacancy mix tells the same story from another angle. In Sebastian, seasonal homes are 60.6 percent of all vacant units; in Indian River County they are 65.0 percent and statewide 53.4 percent. Homes for sale (171) and for rent (80) are a small part of Sebastian's 1,390 vacant units, so most of the city's empty houses on any given day are second homes waiting for their owners rather than homes on the market. Renter-occupied homes, at 1,718 of 11,586 occupied units, are about 14.8 percent of Sebastian's occupied housing.

Visitor lodging is taxed separately from housing. Indian River County records that Resolution 1986-102, approved Nov. 18, 1986, signaled the county's intention to consider a tourist development tax, and that Ordinance 1987-11, approved Jan. 27, 1987, called for a referendum and established the taxing district and the tax. Resolution 1989-9, approved Jan. 17, 1989, designated the Chamber of Commerce as the official county tourist bureau. Short stays in Sebastian rentals fall under that county tax rather than the census seasonal-housing count.

Many Sebastian seasonal homes sit empty during the summer and fall hurricane months, when owners are away and the city urges preparation before storms.

The overlap is a matter of calendar. In Sebastian, the months when part-time residents are gone, documented in the summer volunteer shortages above, are the months of Atlantic hurricane season, so a home held for seasonal use, whether near Riverview Park or off Barber Street or Schumann Drive, can sit unattended when storms threaten the Treasure Coast. The City of Sebastian publishes a hurricane-season home preparation page with links to NOAA hurricane preparedness, American Red Cross tips and guidance on protecting property from severe winds.

The seasonal count also shapes how Sebastian's statistics read. Because ACS interviews spread across the year and classify a home by who lives there at the time, a city with 843 seasonal units will show more vacancies in figures drawn from summer interviews and more occupants in winter. Sebastian's overall vacancy (1,390 of 12,976 units, 10.7 percent) therefore includes a large seasonal component that does not signal empty or abandoned housing.