Indian River County, Florida


Indian River County is a county located in the southeastern and east-central portions of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 159,788. Its seat is Vero Beach.
Indian River County comprises the Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The MSA was first defined as the Vero Beach, Florida MSA in 2003. It was renamed Sebastian-Vero Beach, Florida MSA in 2005, and Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor, Florida MSA in 2023. The MSA is included in the Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Combined Statistical Area.
On November 16–17, 2023, northern Indian River County was severely impacted by flooding after 14” of rain fell in less than 24 hours.

History

Prior to 1821, the area of Indian River County was part of the Spanish colony of East Florida. In 1822, this area became part of St. Johns County, and in 1824 it became part of Mosquito County.
The Second Seminole War was fought in 1835 and from 1838 to 1839. Fort Vinton was built for this purpose near the intersection of present-day Florida State Road 60 and 122nd Avenue.
In 1844, the county's portion of Mosquito County became part of newly created St. Lucia County. In 1855, St. Lucia County was renamed Brevard County. In 1905, St. Lucie County was formed from the southern portion of Brevard County; in 1925 Indian River County was formed from the northern portion of St. Lucie County. It was named for the Indian River, which runs through the eastern portion of the county. In 2025, Indian River County celebrated its centennial for turning 100 years old.

2023 Floods in North County

On November 16 and 17, 2023, extreme rainfall struck northern Indian River County, causing severe flooding. Fourteen inches of rain fell in Fellsmere, and eleven inches of rain fell in Vero Lake Estates.

Hurricane history

Indian River County's location in East Central Florida makes it a very prone location to impacts from Hurricanes.

2004 Atlantic Hurricane Season

Indian River County experienced devastating effects from the 2004 Atlantic Hurricane Season.
On September 5, 2004, the county was affected by the category 2 landfall of Hurricane Frances. There was wide spread power outages, flooding, and high winds.
Only 21 days later, on September 26, 2004, Hurricane Jeanne made landfall near Indian River County as a category 3 hurricane with 120 mph winds. A special Tornado Warning was issued for Indian River County due to the right eye wall of the storm striking the county. A 122 mph wind gust was reported in Vero Beach, and 116 mph wind gust was reported in Sebastian.
“Catastrophic” beach erosion occurred on the beaches of the county after 6–8 feet of storm surge was caused by Jeanne. Widespread flooding occurred, which resulted in the closure of all barrier island bridges being closed. One fatality was caused when an elderly woman was attempting to evacuate her home in Indian River Shores. An F1 tornado touched down in West Vero Corridor causing $34,000 in damage.
A staggering $3.4 billion+ of damage was inflicted on Indian River County alone, easily making the storm the costliest and most destructive hurricane in Indian River County history.

2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season

On November 10, 2022, Hurricane Nicole made landfall near Vero Beach as a Category 1 hurricane. Mostly minor damage was reported, however, the iconic Jaycee Beach and Humiston Beach boardwalks sustained significant damage.

Hurricane Milton

On October 9, 2024, as Hurricane Milton approached Florida, Indian River County was part of a prolific tornado outbreak spawned by Milton.
Several strong tornadoes hit the county including the Lakewood Park - Vero Beach EF3 tornado. Severe damage occurred in the Bethel Creek neighborhood of Vero Beach with homes sustaining heavy damage. Numerous other tornadoes also touched down in the county, with two EF1 tornadoes hitting Downtown Vero Beach within the span of 20 minutes, causing extensive damage. An EF2 tornado touched down farther west near Blue Cypress Lake. In total, six tornadoes struck the county.

Flooding from Hurricane Milton

Torrential rainfall also occurred from Milton, causing flash flooding in the county. According to preliminary reports, 9.41 inches of rain fell in around 3 hours in Vero Beach. A flash flood warning was issued at 7PM EDT for most of eastern Indian River County due to ongoing flooding.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. Indian River County is the ninth-smallest county in Florida by area.

Adjacent counties

Eight bird species in Indian River County are listed as "highly vulnerable" to climate change:

Racial and ethnic composition

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 159,788 people, 71,177 households, and 37,647 families residing in the county.
The racial makeup of the county was 76.7% White, 8.4% Black or African American, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 4.3% from some other race, and 8.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 13.0% of the population.
The median age was 55.1 years. 15.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 34.1% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 92.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.0 males age 18 and over.
92.8% of residents lived in urban areas, while 7.2% lived in rural areas.
There were 71,177 households in the county, of which 19.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 49.7% were married-couple households, 16.3% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 27.7% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 83,529 housing units, of which 14.8% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 75.8% were owner-occupied and 24.2% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.5% and the rental vacancy rate was 9.0%.

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 112,947 people, 49,137 households, and 32,725 families residing in the county. The population density was. There were 57,902 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was 87.43% White, 8.19% Black or African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.74% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 2.15% from other races, and 1.21% from two or more races. 6.53% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 49,137 households, out of which 21.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.50% were married couples living together, 8.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.40% were non-families. 28.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.72.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 19.20% under the age of 18, 6.00% from 18 to 24, 22.30% from 25 to 44, 23.30% from 45 to 64, and 29.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females there were 93.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.80 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $39,635, and the median income for a family was $46,385. Males had a median income of $30,870 versus $23,379 for females. The per capita income for the county was $27,227. About 6.30% of families and 9.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.60% of those under age 18 and 5.70% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Airports

is Indian River County's main method of public transportation. The program was introduced in 1994 to provide an alternative option to driving. Due to County population increases in the early and mid 2000s, Indian River County devised a series of bus routes from Barefoot Bay in southern Brevard County to the south end of Vero Beach. In 2006, GoLine was introduced with more stops along and through the Treasure Coast. By 2010, the GoLine system had a total of 14 stops with an additional four stops planned for 2011/2012. Riders pay no fare or fee to board the bus. In 2010 the buses operated between 8:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. weekdays and from 9:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. on Saturdays. Some routes have extended operating hours depending on location.

Train

began planning to add service along the east coast of Florida, including a station in Vero Beach, in 2000. In 2012, Amtrak announced that it hoped to start service over the Florida East Coast Railway line in 2013. The All Aboard Florida project was also announced in 2012, and now operates over part of the FEC track that Amtrak intended to use, but does not stop anywhere in Indian River County.
Florida East Coast Railway serves a team yard in Vero Beach for off-line customers that don't have direct rail service via spurs. There are two lumber and sheetrock/structural steel customers who receive boxcars, center beam and bulkhead flatcars, and occasionally- gondolas, at the team yard.