Lake County, Florida


Lake County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2010 census, the population was 297,052. Its county seat is Tavares, and its largest city is Clermont.
Lake County is included in the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Lake County was created in 1887 from portions of Sumter and Orange counties. It was named for the many lakes contained within its borders.
In the 1800s, the two main industries in the area were growing cotton and breeding cattle. In the latter part of the 19th century, people started to grow citrus trees. Throughout the 1940s and 50s, citrus production increased and grew into the area's leading industry.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water.
Sugarloaf Mountain is the highest point in peninsular Florida, at 312 feet above sea level.

Adjacent counties

As of the census of 2000, there were 210,528 people, 88,413 households, and 62,507 families residing in the county. The population density was 221 people per square mile. There were 102,830 housing units at an average density of 108 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 87.46% White, 8.31% Black or African American, 0.33% Native American, 0.79% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.88% from other races, and 1.18% from two or more races. 5.61% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 88,413 households out of which 23.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.90% were married couples living together, 8.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.30% were non-families. 24.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.75.
In the county, the population was spread out with 20.30% under the age of 18, 5.80% from 18 to 24, 23.80% from 25 to 44, 23.80% from 45 to 64, and 26.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.10 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $36,903, and the median income for a family was $42,577. Males had a median income of $31,475 versus $23,545 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,199. About 6.90% of families and 9.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.80% of those under age 18 and 6.30% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Lake County is represented by U.S. Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, and U.S. Representatives Michael Waltz, Daniel Webster, and Ross Spano.
In the Florida Senate, Lake County is represented by Senators Dennis Baxley, and Kelli Stargel . In the Florida House, Lake County is represented by Florida Representatives Jennifer Sullivan, the vacant, and Brett Hage.
Lake County has five Constitutional Officers: Gary Cooney, Peyton Grinnell, Cary Baker, David Jordan, and Alan Hays, and five County Commissioners: Tim Sullivan, Sean Parks, Wendy Breeden, Leslie Campione, and Josh Blake.
The Florida Department of Corrections has Region III Correctional Facility Office on the grounds of the Lake Correctional Institution in an unincorporated area in Lake County.

Libraries

The Lake County Library System is made up of 6 branch libraries and 9 municipal libraries:
Lake County has voted Republican in U. S. Presidential races since 1948.
YearRepublicanDemocraticThird parties
201659.48% 102,18836.58% 62,8383.94% 6,773
201257.99% 87,64340.89% 61,7991.13% 1,702
200856.19% 82,80242.71% 62,9481.10% 1,621
200460.02% 74,38938.90% 48,2211.08% 1,340
200056.44% 50,01041.27% 36,5712.29% 2,030
199647.48% 35,09740.25% 29,75212.27% 9,074
199244.17% 30,82533.24% 23,20022.58% 15,762
198868.40% 37,32730.72% 16,7660.88% 479
198474.29% 35,31925.70% 12,2170.01% 7
198064.53% 26,79831.61% 13,1283.86% 1,602
197657.42% 19,97641.31% 14,3691.27% 442
197282.63% 23,07917.20% 4,8030.17% 48
196847.42% 11,76318.54% 4,59934.03% 8,442
196462.39% 12,89737.61% 7,773
196072.45% 12,97927.55% 4,936
195671.57% 10,88828.43% 4,326
195270.63% 9,13229.37% 3,797
194843.23% 3,57941.96% 3,47414.81% 1,226
194438.38% 2,69361.62% 4,323
194033.32% 2,65966.68% 5,322
193633.46% 2,03466.54% 4,045
193237.82% 1,86762.18% 3,070
192868.08% 3,38329.66% 1,4742.25% 112
192436.46% 94853.12% 1,38110.43% 271
192028.90% 73467.72% 1,7203.39% 86
191625.25% 33067.79% 8866.96% 91
191211.34% 9273.49% 59615.17% 123
190824.01% 20058.46% 48717.53% 146
190420.33% 14872.66% 5297.01% 51

2018 General Election Results

Voter turnout: 66.22%
United States Senator: Rick Scott defeated Bill Nelson 60.4% to 39.6%.
U.S. Representative District 6: Michael Waltz defeated Nancy Soderberg 63.1% to 36.9%.
U.S. Representative District 11: Daniel Webster defeated Dana Cottrell 64.3% to 35.7%.
U.S. Representative District 15: Ross Spano defeated Kristen Carlson 51.7% to 48.3%.
Governor: Ron DeSantis defeated Andrew Gillum 59.7% to 38.9%.

Voter registration

Data comes from the Lake County Supervisor of Elections.

Education

There are a number of public schools in the county.

Colleges

The following colleges are located in the county:

Aviation

The Tavares Seaplane Base is a city-owned, public-use seaplane base located on Lake Dora in Tavares.
The Leesburg International Airport is a former Army Airfield and municipal airport located along Lake Harris east of downtown Leesburg, Florida.
Mid Florida Air Service Airport is located on State Road 44 east of Eustis.
is the public transportation agency that serves the Lake County, Florida area since 2007.

Communities

Cities

Stuckey, Florida

Notable people