What Florida county has the greatest percentage of senior citizens? It's not one of the retiree-laden coastal candidates. In Highlands County, smack in the middle of the state between Sarasota to the west and Fort Pierce to the east, 37.3% of the population is 65 or older vs. the statewide average of 18.4%. In the past few years, many retirees have been moving to Highlands County -- which includes the towns of Sebring, Avon Park and Lake Placid -- from other parts of Florida. Highlands offers less congestion, less crime, lower taxes and affordable housing. The county also boasts two hospitals. It's mostly a middle-income enclave. "Many of the people who move here worked for the people who retired to Sarasota, Naples and Palm Beach," says Allon Fish, executive director of the Sebring Chamber of Commerce.
YOUTH MOVEMENT: Hendry County
With nearly 30% of its population under 15, Hendry County is the youngest in Florida. The reason has a lot to do with Hendry's other No. 1 demographic ranking: It has the highest percentage of its workforce in the agricultural industry at 41%. Many of the farm workers are young immigrants. Among Florida counties, Hendry also has the highest birthrate. And with much of the landlocked county's land used for sugar and citrus crops, there aren't a lot of retirees settling in.
VROOOM: Flagler County
After decades of fitful stops and starts, Flagler County's huge retirement development, Palm Coast, has taken off, giving it the largest percentage increase in population in the state. Flagler's population grew 34% from 1994-1999 and is projected to grow another 21% by 2004. It was just a matter of time: Many of the Northerners who had purchased lots in the 40,000-acre development are now retiring. The city of Palm Coast, which became an incorporated municipality Jan. 1, now has a population of 32,000 and ranks as the second-largest city in Northeast Florida after Jacksonville.
But it's not just retirees moving into Flagler County, says Brian Teeple, executive director of the Northeast Florida Regional Planning Council. Young workers are moving into the area.
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS: Broward County
To what can Broward attribute its booming population growth -- the greatest in absolute numbers in the state with a 141,800-person gain projected through 2004? Beaches? Economic development? Parks? Many wrongly believe the inflow started in 1992 when people put out of their homes by Hurricane Andrew drove up Interstate 95 to developments in Weston, Pembroke Pines and Miramar. But the outflow from Miami-Dade predated Andrew and has continued since, says Bill Leonard, a population expert with the Broward County planning department. "I'm not sure by the year 2000 (Hurricane Andrew) would have made any difference." The county also draws a fair number of immigrants from Colombia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and elsewhere in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Not surprisingly, Broward also leads the state in housing starts, with 199,000 projected through 2010.
$$$$: Palm Beach County
One of every five dollars in personal investment income in the state -- dividends, interest and rent -- goes to a Palm Beach County resident. The county leads the state in projected per capita income growth ($11,300) through 2010 and largest personal income growth ($22.68 billion). While the county's share of income from investments is outsized, plenty of county employers pay good wages too. Pratt & Whitney averages $70,000 for its space propulsion division workers. Much of the county relies on low-paying and seasonal jobs in tourism and agriculture, however, and the gap between income from wages and investment income remains big.
CATCHING UP: Franklin County
Franklin County, located along the Gulf of Mexico in northwest Florida, has a beautiful and bountiful bay, lots of trees and little in the way of job growth, according to statistics. The Bureau of Economic and Business Research expects zero job growth through the year 2010, but the numbers are misleading. The county is adding jobs, but still hasn't reached the number of jobs it had in 1996, when it suffered a 12.3% job loss, attributed to the fishing-net ban that year.
Meanwhile, the county has protected a major industry by limiting growth. Oystering on Apalachicola Bay continues to be one of the job employment opportunities in the county. The bay provides 90% of all the oysters consumed in Florida, and 10% of the oysters eaten nationally. But because oysters are sensitive to pollutants, the county has been zealous about development. "Franklin County has one of the toughest comprehensive plans" in the state, says Anita Gregory, executive director of the Apalachicola Bay Chamber of Commerce.
JOBS, JOBS, JOBS: Orange County
Looking for work in the coming years? Orange County, including the city of Orlando, is expected to add 336,200 new jobs between 1995 and 2010. And not all of the new jobs are Mickey Mouse service jobs. Cirent, the semiconductor manufacturer, recently opened its Bell Labs research center, and Federal Express recently opened a major package-sorting facility near Orlando International Airport. Moreover, from 1996 to 1998, the number of high-tech companies operating in the area jumped 40%.
SALES GROWTH: Walton County
Walton County boasts the nation's largest outlet mall -- and the county has the sales to prove it. Walton's annual per capita taxable sales growth rate -- the state's highest -- far outstripped the state average over the past decade and is expected to keep growing at an annual rate of 4.2% from now until the year 2010. By comparison, the state's sales growth rate over the same period is projected to be 2.7%.
The economic engine driving Walton County's torrid sales is the 500,000-sq.-ft. Silver Sands Factory Stores. Most, if not all, of the major designers are represented at the mall: Tommy Hilfiger, Polo Ralph Lauren, Brooks Brothers and Calvin Klein. The county may have the highest ratio of tourists to residents in the state: In addition to the outlet mall, tourists love its pristine beaches. Last year, tourism tax dollars were up 16% vs. 3% in nearby Panama City, reports Pam Tedesco, executive director of the Walton Chamber of Commerce. "In general, Walton County is just taking off," Tedesco says.