St. Lucie County Demographics

St. Lucie County's population is 360,500 in the Census Bureau's American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

The county column comes from the data profile tables for St. Lucie County, Census geography 12111: DP05, DP03 and DP04. The Florida column comes from the same tables for the state (DP05, Florida, DP03, Florida, DP04, Florida). The county DP05 table splits the total into 177,137 males and 183,363 females and counts 160,146 total housing units.

These are county-wide figures that take in Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce, St. Lucie Village and the unincorporated areas together; the next table gives the two cities and neighboring Indian River County from their own DP05 tables.

For Port St. Lucie, the city DP05 table counts 232,491 residents with a median age of 43.9. The Fort Pierce city DP05 table counts 49,082 residents, with a median age of 37.2 and 25.2 percent of its people under 18. For neighboring Indian River County, the DP05 table puts the median age at 55.3 and residents 65 and over at 34.8 percent. The Fort Pierce and Port St. Lucie demographics guides give the full city profiles.

The median age in St. Lucie County is 45.1 years, against 42.6 for Florida, and 24.6 percent of county residents are 65 or older.

The St. Lucie County DP05 table counts 88,534 residents aged 65 and over and 70,901 under 18, or 19.7 percent of the county. It also lists 17,876 children under 5 and 9,627 residents aged 85 and over. Statewide, the Florida DP05 table puts residents 65 and over at 21.3 percent and those under 18 at 19.5 percent.

The household tables add detail on older residents living alone. The St. Lucie County DP02 table lists 11,758 households of a woman aged 65 or over living alone (8.6 percent of households) and 7,573 of a man aged 65 or over living alone (5.5 percent).

Non-Hispanic white residents are 51.1 percent of St. Lucie County in the ACS 2020-2024 estimates, Hispanic or Latino residents of any race 21.8 percent, and non-Hispanic Black or African American residents 20.9 percent.

The St. Lucie County DP05 table counts 78,741 Hispanic or Latino residents and 75,302 non-Hispanic Black or African American residents, and puts non-Hispanic Asian residents at 2.0 percent. In the separate race section of the same table, which counts people of any ethnicity, 13.9 percent of St. Lucie County residents report two or more races; in the Hispanic or Latino and race section, residents who are not Hispanic and report two or more races are 3.5 percent of the total population.

Among the ancestry rows, the DP02 table lists 24,551 St. Lucie County residents, 6.8 percent, with West Indian ancestry (excluding Hispanic origin groups).

Of all St. Lucie County residents, 34.1 percent, were born in Florida, 44.3 percent in a different state and 18.2 percent are foreign-born, according to the county DP02 table.

That table counts 65,657 foreign-born residents and another 3.4 percent born in Puerto Rico, U.S. Island areas or abroad to American parents. At home, 24.6 percent of St. Lucie County residents aged 5 and over speak a language other than English, and 15.9 percent speak Spanish. The same table finds 89.6 percent of residents living in the same house as a year earlier.

For veteran status, DP02 lists 24,969 civilian veterans, 8.6 percent of the civilian population 18 and over. The St. Lucie County veterans services guide covers the county office that serves them.

The median household income in St. Lucie County is $71,457, against $74,568 for Florida, in 2024 inflation-adjusted dollars as the DP03 variable labels state.

The St. Lucie County DP03 table lists a mean household income of $92,386, a median family income of $82,201, per capita income of $36,552 (Florida: $42,609) and median earnings for workers of $40,386. It puts 12.3 percent of all people below the poverty level, against 12.6 percent statewide in the Florida DP03 table, and 12.2 percent of St. Lucie County households received SNAP benefits in the past 12 months.

Of the 298,551 St. Lucie County residents aged 16 and over, 56.0 percent are in the labor force, and the civilian unemployment rate in the table is 6.1 percent, against 4.8 percent for Florida. For commuting, 76.2 percent of workers drive alone, 12.1 percent work from home, and the mean travel time to work is 29.3 minutes, compared with 28.0 minutes statewide.

Owners hold 78.6 percent of occupied homes in St. Lucie County, against 67.6 percent in Florida, and the median owner-occupied home value is $347,300.

The St. Lucie County DP04 table counts 160,146 housing units, 137,453 of them occupied and 22,693, or 14.2 percent, vacant (Florida: 14.7 percent in the state DP04 table). The homeowner vacancy rate is 1.4 and the rental vacancy rate 7.4. Single-family detached houses make up 71.5 percent of units and mobile homes 6.7 percent. By year built, 9,479 units, 5.9 percent, were built in 2020 or later, and 10.6 percent between 2010 and 2019.

The St. Lucie County table finds 53.6 percent of renting households paying 35 percent or more of income in gross rent, with a median gross rent of $1,585 against $1,669 statewide. Owner households average 2.57 people and renter households 2.70, and 4.4 percent of occupied homes have no vehicle available.

St. Lucie County has 137,453 households averaging 2.60 people, and 26.7 percent of adults 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

The county DP02 table gives an average family size of 3.08 and finds married-couple households at 49.5 percent of all households. Among residents 25 and over, 89.2 percent are high school graduates or higher. In the same St. Lucie County table, 92.6 percent of households have a broadband internet subscription.

School-age figures from these tables describe residents, not enrollment; the St. Lucie County enrollment and registration guide explains how the school district assigns students.