Duval County Florida   Located in North East Florida

Duval County Cities

Land area (rank): 776 square miles (26)
Population 1993 (rank): 701,608 (7)
Population density 1993 (rank): 904 persons per square mile (5)
Growth 1980-1990 (rank): 17.9% (53)

Physical Characteristics

Duval County is in northeast Florida and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and Nassau, Baker, Clay, and St. Johns counties. The county has 74 square miles of water. The average January temperature is 55.2 degrees F, and the average August temperature is 81.4 degrees F. The average annual rainfall is 58.20 inches.

History

Duval County was established in 1822 from St. Johns County and was named for William Pope Duval, first territorial governor of Florida. Jacksonville was nearly destroyed by fire in 1901. One of the largest ports in the state, Jacksonville developed a substantial shipbuilding industry during World War II.

Population

In 1993 nearly 95% of Duval County's population was within the incorporated area of Jacksonville (661,243 persons in 1993). The U.S. Bureau of the Census has designated Duval County, as well as Clay, Nassau, and St. Johns counties, as the Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 1993, 73% of Duval County's population was white and 27% was nonwhite. In 1990, 2.6% of the population was Hispanic. Of the population increase between 1980 and 1990, 39.7% was due to net migration. The 1992 birth rate for the county was 18.2 live births per 1,000 persons, and the 1992 death rate was 8.2 deaths per 1,000 persons. In 1992 the infant mortality rate was 8.7 per 1,000. The leading causes of death in 1993 were heart disease, cancer, and stroke.

Education

Of all 1992 high school graduates, 61.4% planned to continue their education. The 1992 high school dropout rate was 9.6%. In 1990, 76.9% of persons in the county were high school graduates, and 18.4% had completed four or more years of college. Colleges and universities. Southern Illinois University Center, Cecil Field; Central Michigan University Center Institute for Personal and Career Development, Edward Waters College, Florida Community College at Jacksonville, Jacksonville University, Jones College, Luther Rice Seminary: Florida Center, Trinity Baptist College, University of North Florida, Jacksonville.

Economy

The per capita income in 1993 was $19,603 (16th highest in the state). The median household income in 1989 was $28,513. In 1989, 9.8 % of families had incomes below the poverty level. In 1990, 15.0% of personal income in Duval County was derived from transfer payments. Jacksonville is a major insurance, banking, and shipping center as well as the site of a naval air station and many state offices, including the Vital Statistics Office of the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services. In 1992 there were 378 farms in Duval County, totalling 40,039 acres (7% of the total land in the county). In 1991, 23,220 thousand board feet of softwood logs and 99,379 cords of softwood for pulp were produced. In 1991, 2,044,424 pounds of fish and 1,646,553 pounds of shellfish were landed in Duval County.

Median value of a single-family home 1990: $64,000
Median monthly rent 1990: $355
Mobile homes as a % of total housing: 7.7
Housing starts 1992: 4,580
Housing starts 1993: 4,472

In 1992 the price level index for Duval County was 97.43 (17th highest in the state).

Local Government

Duval County is a charter county. In 1993, the ad valorem millage rate was 11.1628, and the total taxable value of property was $19,338,563,479. Taxable sales totalled $6872.40 million in 1992 and $7411.20 million in 1993. Lottery sales totalled $108,200 thousand in 1992-93. In 1990-91 Duval County's revenues totalled $1,646,457 thousand ($2,562.9 per capita) and its expenditures $1,743,883 ($2,714.5 per capita). Of those 18 years of age and older, 68.4% were registered to vote in 1992. Of these, 61.9% were registered Democrat and 31.7% were registered Republican. In the 1992 presidential election, 49.5% of the votes were cast for Bush, 36.9% for Clinton, and 13.4% for Perot.

Events and Places of Interest

Mazda Gator Bowl, January, Jacksonville Film Festival, April, Riverwalk Arts and Crafts Festival, May, Greater Jacksonville Agricultural Fair, National Jazz Festival, October; Anheuser-Busch Brewery Tour, Ft. Caroline National Memorial, Jacksonville Art Museum, Jacksonville Zoological Park, Kingsley Plantation State Historic Site; Museum of Science and Industry; Riverwalk. Mazda Gator Bowl, January, Jacksonville Film Festival, April, Riverwalk Arts and Crafts Festival, May, Greater Jacksonville Agricultural Fair, National Jazz Festival, October; Anheuser-Busch Brewery Tour, Ft. Caroline National Memorial, Jacksonville Art Museum, Jacksonville Zoological Park, Kingsley Plantation State Historic Site; Museum of Science and Industry; Riverwalk.