Retiring in Sebastian — Sebastian, Florida

Census estimates for 2020 to 2024 put Sebastian's population 65 and over at 9,665, plus or minus 625, so a little more than one Sebastian resident in three is 65 or older.

The share comes from two figures in the same American Community Survey table: 9,665 older residents out of 26,262 people, which is 36.8 percent (ACS S0103, Sebastian). Indian River County as a whole reaches 34.8 percent, 58,171 of 166,936 (ACS S0103, Indian River County), and Florida 21.3 percent, 4,781,978 of 22,416,077 (ACS S0103, Florida). The typical older Sebastian resident is 74.0 years old, the median for the 65 and over group, matching the statewide 74.0 and just under the county's 74.6.

Older Sebastian residents tend to stay put. In the ACS 2020-2024 estimates, 92.2 percent of the 65 and over population lived in the same house a year earlier, and 2.7 percent had lived in a different state, a rough gauge of recent arrivals from out of state. Work is the exception rather than the rule: 11.8 percent of Sebastian residents 65 and over were in the labor force, below 14.7 percent countywide and 16.8 percent in Florida.

These are five-year survey estimates with margins of error, read from the Census Bureau's S0103 variable list (Census Bureau S0103 definitions). For Sebastian the margins are wide on small groups, so the page gives them wherever a comparison depends on one.

Social Security reaches 88.0 percent of Sebastian households headed by someone 65 or older, at a mean of $26,303 a year, about $2,191.92 a month, which is $3,058 below the Indian River County mean of $29,361.

The monthly figure is the annual mean divided by 12. Sebastian counts 5,561 households with a householder 65 or older in ACS 2020-2024, and the Social Security share of 88.0 percent carries a margin of 4.1 points (ACS S0103, Sebastian). Statewide the share is 88.9 percent with a mean of $26,798. The county share is 91.1 percent, above the Sebastian estimate but inside its 4.1-point margin.

Retirement income is more common in Sebastian than in Florida but smaller on average. Of Sebastian's older households, 65.1 percent report retirement income, against 54.5 percent statewide, yet the Sebastian mean of $29,484 is $11,818 below the Indian River County mean of $41,302 (ACS S0103, Indian River County). Earnings matter for a minority: 24.4 percent of older Sebastian households have any, with a mean of $69,646 and a wide margin of $17,153.

Social Security shapes the whole city, not only its older households. Across all Sebastian households, 53.7 percent receive Social Security income, and the median household income for the city is $69,409 (ACS DP03, Sebastian). The poverty rate for Sebastian residents 65 and over, 9.5 percent, carries a margin of 3.8 points, so it cannot be told apart from the county's 8.3 percent.

Older Sebastian owners report a median home value of $316,100 and median monthly owner costs of $475 without a mortgage, both below the Indian River County figures of $363,000 and $724.

Ownership is close to universal among older Sebastian households: 92.4 percent of homes with a householder 65 or older are owner occupied (ACS S0103, Sebastian). For owners still paying a mortgage, the median monthly cost is $1,310, below the county's $1,588 and Florida's $1,693 (ACS S0103, Florida). The $249 gap between Sebastian and the county for owners without a mortgage is $724 minus $475.

Housing costs take a large bite from a minority of these owners. In Sebastian, 24.6 percent of owners 65 and over spend 30 percent or more of household income on owner costs, close to 25.2 percent in Indian River County and under 29.5 percent in Florida, though the Sebastian margin of 5.9 points reaches both. The Digital Towns page on 55 plus and manufactured home communities covers that housing type in Sebastian.

An estimated 83.8 percent of Sebastian renter households headed by someone 65 or older pay 30 percent or more of income on rent, against 54.7 percent across Indian River County, the widest Sebastian-to-county gap on this page.

The Sebastian estimate rests on a small base, 420 renter households with a margin of error of 143, and the burdened share itself carries a margin of 12.0 points (ACS S0103, Sebastian). Even at the low end of that range, 83.8 minus 12.0, or 71.8 percent, the Sebastian figure stays above the high end of the county range, 54.7 plus 5.5, or 60.2 percent, for 4,126 county renter households 65 and over (ACS S0103, Indian River County). Florida's statewide rate is 62.8 percent.

Rent itself is not what sets Sebastian apart. The median gross rent for older Sebastian renters, $1,254, is near the county's $1,234, and its margin of $593 is too wide to rank it. Renters are 7.6 percent of older Sebastian households, so the burden falls on a few hundred households in a city where 92.4 percent of older householders own.

A parcel inside Sebastian city limits carried a combined 16.4994 mills for tax year 2025, of which the City of Sebastian levy was 3.4455 mills, about 21 percent of the total.

The total is the sum of every levy on Indian River County tax area 2, which carries the Sebastian municipal levy (FDOR 2025 Indian River TACD, page 2). The city share is 3.4455 divided by 16.4994, or 0.209. On each $100,000 of taxable value after exemptions, 16.4994 mills comes to $1,649.94, because the Indian River County Tax Collector applies the millage rate per thousand dollars of taxable value (Indian River County Tax Collector). The same Tax Collector page lists the City of Sebastian and the Sebastian Inlet Tax District among the authorities that set those rates.

The city portion moved most recently. The City of Sebastian adopted 3.4455 mills for fiscal 2025-26, up from 3.1955 and above its rolled-back rate of 3.0149, according to the Florida Department of Revenue (FDOR Table 1, Indian River County). The 0.25 mill increase is $25 for each $100,000 of taxable value.

The Tax Collector's main office is in the County Administration Complex in Vero Beach, and its Sebastian Office, at Sebastian Corners, 1921 U.S. Highway 1, lists property tax among its services alongside driver licenses and motorist services (Indian River County Tax Collector, Sebastian Office).

Exemptions decide the taxable value a Sebastian retiree is billed on, and the Digital Towns page on property tax exemptions for seniors and veterans lists them with their filing rules, while the senior services page covers local programs for older residents. Last verified: October 11, 2026, on the U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 S0103 tables for Sebastian, Indian River County and Florida and the Florida Department of Revenue 2025 Indian River TACD.