Walton County Florida

Alligator	Douglass Crossroad	Knox Hill	Point Washington
Alpine Heights	Dune Allen Beach	Koerber	Pond Creek
Argyle	Eucheeanna	Lakewood	Portland
Beach Highlands	Flowersville	Liberty	Redbay
Blue Gulf Beach	Fluffy Landing	Miramar Beach	Rock Hill
Blue Mountain Beach	Forest Highlands	Mossy Head	Sand Hill
Bruce	Four Mile Village	Narrows	Sandestin
Caney Creek	Fox Hill	Natural Bridge	Santa Rosa Beach
Center Ridge	Freeport	New Harmony	Seagrove Beach
Choctaw	Gaskin	New Home	Seascape
Choctaw Bay	Glendale	Oakwood Hills	Seaside
Choctaw Beach	Gordon	Owls Head	Tang O Mar Beach
Clear Springs	Grayton Beach	Paxton	Turquoise Beach
Cluster Springs	Grosh	Piney Grove	Union
Cosson Mill	Gulf Pines	Pleasant Grove	Villa Tasso
Darlington	Inlet Beach	Pleasant Hill
DeFuniak Springs	Iona	Pleasant Ridge

Land area (rank): 1,066 square miles (11)
Population 1993 (rank): 30,568 (44)
Population density 1993 (rank): 29 persons per square mile (53)
Growth 1980-1990 (rank): 30.3 (35)

Physical Characteristics

Walton County is in northwest Florida and is bordered by Alabama, the Gulf of Mexico, and Okaloosa, Holmes, Washington, and Bay counties. The county has 82 square miles of water. The highest point in the state (345 feet) is east of Paxton. The average January temperature is 52.8 degrees F, and the average August temperature is 80.8 degrees F. The average annual rainfall is 65.70 inches.

History

Walton County was established in 1824 from a portion of Escambia County and named for Col. George Walton, secretary of the Territory of West Florida (1821-22) and of the combined territory of Florida (1822-26).

Population

Much of the western portion of the county is Eglin Air Force Base. In 1993, 78% of Walton County's population was in unincorporated areas, all of which have populations under 1,000. The largest incorporated place is DeFuniak Springs, which in 1993 had a population of 5,259. In 1993 Walton County's other incorporated places, Freeport and Paxton, each had populations under 1,000. In 1993, 90% of Walton County's population was white, and 10% was nonwhite. In 1990, 0.9% of the population was Hispanic. Of the population increase between 1980 and 1990, 91.4% was due to net migration. The 1992 birth rate was 12.1 live births per 1,000 persons, and the 1992 death rate was 11.3 deaths per 1,000 persons. In 1992 the infant mortality rate was 8.4 per 1,000. In 1993 the leading causes of death were heart disease, cancer, and accidents.

Education

Of all 1992 high school graduates, 66.0% planned to continue their education. The 1992 high school dropout rate was 2.8%. In 1990, 66.5% of persons in the county were high school graduates, and 11.9% had completed four or more years of college. Colleges and universities. Okaloosa-Walton Junior College (Okaloosa County).

Economy

The per capita income in Walton County for 1993 was $12,914 (60th highest in the state). The median household income in 1989 was $21,297. In 1989, 15.1% of families had incomes below the poverty level. In 1990, 29.0% of personal income in Walton County was derived from transfer payments. In 1992 the greatest numbers of persons in Walton County were employed in the services, retail trade, and government sectors. In the services sector, employers of the greatest numbers of persons were medical and other health services and business services. Employers of the greatest numbers of persons in the retail trade sector were eating and drinking establishments and food stores. In 1992 there were 383 farms in Walton County, totalling 96,730 acres (14% of total land in the county). Walton County is a major producer of soybeans. In 1991, 18,665 thousand board feet of softwood logs, 44,772 cords of softwood for pulp, and 10,170 cords of hardwood for pulp were produced. In 1991, 15,683 pounds of fish and 18,044 pounds of shellfish were landed in Walton County.

Median value of a single-family home 1990: $49,700
Median monthly rent 1990: $233
Mobile homes as a% of total housing: 22.4
Housing starts 1992: 644
Housing starts 1993: 629

In 1992 the price level index for Walton County was 94.31 (34th highest in the state).

Local Government

In 1993, the ad valorem millage rate was 7.5980, and the total taxable value of property was $1,471,734,103. Taxable sales totalled $247.00 million in 1992 and $277.70 million in 1993. Lottery sales totalled $5,935 thousand in 1992-93. In 1990-91 Walton County's revenues totalled $26,438 thousand ($890.2 per capita) and its expenditures $26,016 thousand ($904.6 per capita). Of those 18 years of age and older, 73.5% were registered to vote in 1992. Of these, 74.7% were registered Democrat and 22.0% were registered Republican. In the 1992 presidential election 42.2% of the votes were cast for Bush, 28.7% for Clinton, and 28.7% for Perot.