Orange County Florida   Located in Central Florida

Orange County Cities

Physical Characteristics

Orange County is in central Florida and is bordered by Seminole, Brevard, Osceola, and Lake counties. The county has 93 square miles of water. The average January temperature is 60.7 degrees F, and the average August temperature is 82.0 degrees F. The average annual rainfall is 52.35 inches.

Religion

History

Orange County was established in 1824 from a portion of St. Johns County. Originally named Mosquito, the county was renamed Orange in 1845 for the many orange groves in the area.

Population

The greatest population concentration in Orange County is in the Orlando area. Within the corporate boundaries of Orlando were 172,019 persons in 1993. All the other incorporated places in the county (12) had populations under 25,000 in 1993. Development continues in nearby unincorporated areas. Since 1980 a new area of rapid growth has been Orangewood. The U.S. Bureau of the Census has designated Orange County (with Osceola and Seminole counties) as the Orlando Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 1993, 81% of Orange County's population was white and 19% was nonwhite. In 1990, 9.6% of the population was Hispanic. Of the population increase between 1980 and 1990, 76.9% was due to net migration. The 1992 birth rate was 16.4 live births per 1,000 persons, and the 1992 death rate was 7.0 deaths per 1,000 persons. In 1992 the infant mortality rate was 8.1 per 1,000. The leading causes of death in 1993 were heart disease, cancer, and stroke.

Education

Of all 1992 high school graduates, 76.4% planned to continue their education. The 1992 high school dropout rate was 4.9%. In 1990, 78.8% of persons in the county were high school graduates, and 21.2% had completed four or more years of college. Colleges and universities. ITT Technical Institute, Maitland; Webster Univ. Graduate Center, Altamonte Springs; Columbia College-Orlando Naval Training Center, Florida Hospital College of Health Sciences, Florida Technical College, Heritage College, Loma Linda University Center, Orlando College, Southern College, Southern College of Seventh-Day Adventists-Orlando Center, University of Central Florida, Valencia Community College, Orlando; Rollins College, Winter Park.

Economy

The per capita income in Orange County for 1993 was $20,145 (15th highest in the state). The median household income in 1989 was $30,252. In 1989, 7.8% of families had incomes below the poverty level. In 1990, 13.0% of personal income in Orange County was derived from transfer payments. Printing and publishing, electrical equipment and supplies, and food and kindred products firms accounted for the greatest employment in the manufacturing sector. In 1992 there were 990 farms in Orange County, totalling 138,418 acres (24% of land in the county).

Median value of a single-family home 1990: $81,400
Median monthly rent 1990: $441
Mobile homes as a % of total housing: 7.1
Housing starts 1992: 6,936
Housing starts 1993: 6,811

In 1992 the price level index for Orange County was 101.35 (8th highest in the state).

Local Government

Orange County is a charter county. In 1993, the ad valorem millage rate was 5.2889, and the total taxable value of property was $32,910,484,186. Taxable sales totalled $12816.40 million in 1992 and 13409.80 million in 1993. Lottery sales totalled $107,891 thousand in 1992-93. In 1990-91 Orange County's revenues totalled $882,514 thousand ($1,258.4 per capita) and its expenditures $890,673 thousand ($1,270.0 per capita). Of those 18 years of age and older, 47.9% were registered to vote in 1992. Of these, 45.4% were registered Democrat and 49.4% were registered Republican. In the 1992 presidential election 45.9% of the votes were cast for Bush, 34.9% for Clinton, and 18.9% for Perot.

Events and Places of Interest

Florida Citrus Bowl, Orlando; Bach Festival, February, Art Festival, March, Winter Park; Apopka Art and Foliage Festival, April; Shakespeare Festival, Orlando, April; Orlando Film Festival, May; Sweetcorn Festival, Zellwood, May; Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, Winter Park; Church Street Station, Elvis Presley Museum, Gatorland, Leu Botanical Gardens, Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando Science Center, Sea World, Walt Disney World Resort, Wet 'n' Wild, Orlando.