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Marion County, Florida
Seal of Marion County, Florida
Seal
Map of Florida highlighting Marion County
Location in the state of Florida
Map of the U.S
Florida's location in the U.S.
Founded March 14 1844
Seat Ocala
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

1,663 sq mi (4,307 km²)
1,579 sq mi (4,090 km²)
84 sq mi (218 km²), 5.06%
Population
 - (2020)
 - Density

375,908
163/sq mi (63/km²)
Website www.marioncountyfl.org

Marion County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2020, the population was 375,908. Its county seat is Ocala6.

History[]

Marion County was created in 1844 from portions of Alachua, Mosquito (Orange), and Hillsborough counties. Until 1853, Marion County included most of what are now Lake and Sumter counties. The county is named after General Francis Marion of South Carolina, a guerrilla fighter and hero of the American Revolutionary War. Many of the early settlers of Marion County were from South Carolina. The county motto is "Kingdom of the Sun." Farms in the county are known for breeding champion race horses such as Affirmed and Needles.

Geography[]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 4,307 km² (1,663 sq mi). 4,089 km² (1,579 sq mi) of it is land and 218 km² (84 sq mi) of it (5.06%) is water. It is coterminous with the Ocala Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Location and Terrain[]

Marion County is generally composed of rolling hills, some high and some low. The majority of its trees consist of live oaks, pine, and palm trees. Marion County is considered the southernmost county in North Central Florida, and sometimes the northernmost county in Central Florida.

It is about a two hour drive from many of Florida's major cities, Orlando is 90 minutes to the southeast while Tampa is about 90 minutes to the southwest. Jacksonville is roughly a two hour drive northeast and Daytona Beach is an hour and a half to the east. Miami is about five hours to the southeast as is Fort Lauderdale.

Marion County also has two large lakes at its opposite borders. Orange Lake is in the far northern part of Marion County, near the border with Alachua County. Lake Weir, the larger of the two, is in the far southern region near the border with Lake County.

Marion County is inland, centered between the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Gulf of Mexico to the west. Because of this, Marion County is not affected as much by hurricanes as the more coastal counties to its east and west are. However, tornadoes are a major threat to this region of the state. Although Marion County is not near either of Florida's coasts, it is situated slightly to the west. Therefore, it takes an hour to get to the Gulf of Mexico while it takes a half an hour longer to get to the Atlantic Ocean.

Adjacent Counties[]

Demographics[]

As of the census² of 2000, there were 258,916 people, 106,755 households, and 74,621 families residing in the county. The population density was 63/km² (164/sq mi). There were 122,663 housing units at an average density of 30/km² (78/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 84.16% White, 11.55% Black or African American, 0.45% Native American, 0.70% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.69% from other races, and 1.44% from two or more races. 6.03% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 106,755 households out of which 24.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.60% were married couples living together, 10.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.10% were non-families. 25.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.79.

In the county the population was spread out with 21.40% under the age of 18, 6.40% from 18 to 24, 23.80% from 25 to 44, 23.90% from 45 to 64, and 24.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 93.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $31,944, and the median income for a family was $37,473. Males had a median income of $28,836 versus $21,855 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,848. About 9.20% of families and 13.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.20% of those under age 18 and 7.40% of those age 65 or over.

Politics[]

The county is governed by the Marion County Board of County Commissioners.[1] Jeff Gold is the Chair of the five-person board.

United States presidential election results for Marion County, Florida[2]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 127,826 62.44% 74,858 36.57% 2,032 0.99%
2016 107,833 61.30% 62,041 35.27% 6,026 3.43%
2012 93,043 57.53% 66,831 41.32% 1,864 1.15%
2008 89,628 55.14% 70,839 43.58% 2,075 1.28%
2004 81,283 58.19% 57,271 41.00% 1,123 0.80%
2000 55,146 53.55% 44,674 43.39% 3,151 3.06%
1996 41,409 45.92% 37,045 41.08% 11,717 12.99%
1992 35,442 40.74% 30,829 35.44% 20,718 23.82%
1988 41,501 66.38% 20,685 33.09% 334 0.53%
1984 37,815 69.97% 16,225 30.02% 6 0.01%
1980 23,743 58.49% 15,400 37.94% 1,449 3.57%
1976 16,163 47.99% 16,963 50.37% 553 1.64%
1972 19,505 78.18% 5,397 21.63% 46 0.18%
1968 7,468 32.66% 5,798 25.36% 9,600 41.98%
1964 10,879 54.42% 9,112 45.58% 0 0.00%
1960 7,043 49.43% 7,206 50.57% 0 0.00%
1956 6,362 50.99% 6,114 49.01% 0 0.00%
1952 6,134 51.17% 5,854 48.83% 0 0.00%
1948 1,829 22.43% 4,650 57.01% 1,677 20.56%
1944 1,642 22.68% 5,597 77.32% 0 0.00%
1940 1,297 17.47% 6,127 82.53% 0 0.00%
1936 760 14.01% 4,664 85.99% 0 0.00%
1932 962 23.07% 3,208 76.93% 0 0.00%
1928 1,927 49.75% 1,863 48.10% 83 2.14%
1924 359 17.25% 1,528 73.43% 194 9.32%
1920 1,232 31.57% 2,436 62.43% 234 6.00%
1916 462 19.50% 1,567 66.15% 340 14.35%
1912 179 10.87% 1,165 70.73% 303 18.40%
1908 482 22.05% 1,352 61.85% 352 16.10%
1904 230 15.84% 1,091 75.14% 131 9.02%
1900 264 17.61% 1,132 75.52% 103 6.87%
1896 480 25.65% 1,230 65.74% 161 8.61%
1892 0 0.00% 1,133 67.32% 550 32.68%



Municipalities[]

Incorporated[]

  1. City of Belleview
  2. City of Dunnellon
  3. Town of McIntosh
  4. City of Ocala
  5. Town of Reddick

Unincorporated[]

Education[]

Public School System[]

  • 27 elementary schools
  • 8 middle schools
  • 1 k-8 center
  • 8 high schools
  • 2 charter schools
  • 14 special needs schools

Elementary Schools[]

  • Anthony Elementary School
  • Belleview Elementary School
  • Belleview-Santos Elementary School
  • College Park Elementary School
  • Dr. N.H. Jones Elementary (Magnet)
  • Dunnellon Elementary School
  • East Marion Elementary School
  • Eighth Street Elementary School
  • Emerald Shores Elementary School
  • Evergreen Elementary School
  • Fessenden Elementary School
  • Fort McCoy School (K-8)
  • Greenway Elementary School
  • Hammett Bowen Jr. Elementary School
  • Harbour View Elementary School
  • Madison Street Academy of Visual and Performing Arts (Magnet)
  • Maplewood Elementary School
  • Oakcrest Elementary School
  • Ocala Springs Elementary School
  • Reddick-Collier Elementary School
  • Romeo Elementary School
  • Saddlewood Elementary School
  • Shady Hill Elementary School
  • South Ocala Elementary School
  • Sparr Elementary School
  • Stanton-Weirsdale Elementary School
  • Sunrise Elementary School
  • Ward-Highlands Elementary School
  • Wyomina Park Elementary School

Middle Schools[]

High Schools[]

Marion County Public Schools Homepage

External links[]

Government links/Constitutional offices[]

Special districts[]

Judicial branch[]

Tourism links[]

Miscellaneous links[]


Schools of Marion County, Florida
High Schools Belleview High School | Dunnellon High School | Forest High School | Lake Weir High School | Marion Technical Institute | North Marion High School | Vanguard High School | West Port High School
Middle Schools Belleview Middle School | Dunnellon Middle School | Fort King Middle School | Howard Middle School | Lake Weir Middle School | North Marion Middle School | Osceola Middle School | West Port Middle School
Elementary Schools Anthony Elementary School | Belleview Elementary School | Belleview-Santos Elementary School | College Park Elementary School | Dr. N.H. Jones Elementary (Magnet) | Dunnellon Elementary School | East Marion Elementary School | Eighth Street Elementary School | Emerald Shores Elementary School | Evergreen Elementary School | Fessenden Elementary School | Fort McCoy School (K-8) | Greenway Elementary School | Hammett Bowen Jr. Elementary School | Harbour View Elementary School | Madison Street Academy of Visual and Performing Arts (Magnet) | Maplewood Elementary School | Oakcrest Elementary School | Ocala Springs Elementary School | Reddick-Collier Elementary School | Romeo Elementary School | Saddlewood Elementary School | Shady Hill Elementary School | South Ocala Elementary School | Sparr Elementary School | Stanton-Weirsdale Elementary School | Sunrise Elementary School | Ward-Highlands Elementary School | Wyomina Park Elementary School



Coordinates: 29°13′N 82°04′W / 29.21, -82.06

This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Marion County, Florida. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.
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