Saint Johns County, Florida

Saint Johns County is a county in Florida, United States, about 35 miles south of Jacksonville. It had a population of 273,425 at the 2020 census, an estimated 346,328 by the Census Bureau’s 2024 population estimate, and covers 822 square miles (2,130 km2) centred near 29°55′N 81°25′W.

St. Augustine is the county seat and the oldest continuously occupied European-founded city in the United States; its postal code is 32084. The county holds 3 incorporated cities and towns and 16 unincorporated communities and census-designated places, and it runs on Eastern Time.

Towns & Villages in Saint Johns County

Saint Johns County has 19 named places on record: 3 incorporated cities and towns and 16 unincorporated communities and census-designated places (CDPs) with no local government of their own. CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp. covers named crossroads and rural communities with no formal boundary.

Four places on this list share the “St. Augustine” name but are distinct communities: St. Augustine is the incorporated county seat; St. Augustine Beach is a separate incorporated city on Anastasia Island; St. Augustine Shores and St. Augustine South are unincorporated CDPs south of the city with no municipal government of their own. Marineland, the county’s smallest incorporated place at 15 residents, straddles the line with neighboring Flagler County — most of its historic marine-park site sits on the St. Johns side. Julington Creek Plantation is a named subdivision inside the Fruit Cove CDP rather than a separately counted census place, and the informal name “St. Johns” that residents use for the county’s northwest corner covers parts of both Fruit Cove and Switzerland rather than one platted community. Ponte Vedra Beach has no confirmed 2020 census count on record; a 2016 Census Bureau estimate put it near 29,500 residents, before the Nocatee, Sawgrass and Palm Valley CDPs were resurveyed around it.

ZIP Codes

• 32084 — St. Augustine (downtown and the historic district)
• 32080 — St. Augustine Beach (also covers Crescent Beach, and mail for Butler Beach)
• 32092 — World Golf Village and northwestern St. Augustine
• 32095 — northeastern St. Augustine, including Vilano Beach mail
• 32081 — Ponte Vedra (Nocatee)
• 32082 — Ponte Vedra Beach, Palm Valley and Sawgrass
• 32259 — Fruit Cove and Switzerland (Julington Creek Plantation is served from this code)
• 32145 — Hastings and Flagler Estates

St. Augustine Shores, St. Augustine South, Butler Beach, Vilano Beach and Elkton have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is delivered under a neighboring incorporated town’s code. Marineland shares its postal service with the Flagler County side of the community.

Geography

Saint Johns County sits on Florida’s northeastern Atlantic coast, part of the region known as the First Coast. Of its 822 square miles, 601 are land and 221 are water — nearly 27 percent, among the higher water shares of any Florida county, split between the Atlantic Ocean, the Tolomato and Matanzas rivers, and the St. Johns River, which forms most of the county’s western boundary and gave the county its name. Barrier islands run the length of the coast, carrying Vilano Beach, Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Palm Valley and Crescent Beach, while the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve protects a long stretch of marsh and lagoon behind them.

Duval County, home to Jacksonville, borders Saint Johns to the north. Clay County lies to the west, Putnam County to the southwest, and Flagler County to the south. Duval County, Clay County and Flagler County each have their own page on this site; Putnam County does not.

Demographics

Saint Johns County had a population of 273,425 at the 2020 census, and the Census Bureau’s 2024 estimate puts the county near 346,328 residents, one of the faster growth rates of any Florida county over that span. The median age was 44.0 in 2020, older than the state as a whole, and 21.1 percent of residents were 65 or older. Fruit Cove and Nocatee are the two largest named communities, together holding well over 50,000 residents, both built out mostly since 2010. Population density works out to roughly 557 people per square mile of land as of the 2020 count, still comparatively low for a Florida coastal county because much of the northern and western county remains rural or wetland.

Economy & Local Life

Tourism built around St. Augustine’s colonial-era historic district and the county’s golf resorts is the county’s leading industry; much of the rest of the county functions as a residential base for workers who commute north to Jacksonville. Ponte Vedra Beach has been headquarters to the PGA Tour since 1978, and TPC Sawgrass, the Tour’s home course, has hosted the Players Championship every year since 1982. World Golf Village, built by the PGA Tour in the 1990s along Interstate 95, houses two championship courses and formerly hosted the World Golf Hall of Fame before it relocated to Pinehurst, North Carolina, in 2023. In the county’s southwest, Hastings has grown potatoes, cabbage and other row crops on its fields since the early 1900s, earning the town the nickname the Potato Capital of Florida. Flagler Health+, the county’s main hospital system, is based in St. Augustine. The Players Championship each March remains the county’s single biggest annual draw, bringing tens of thousands of visitors to Ponte Vedra Beach for tournament week.

History

St. Augustine was founded by Spanish settlers in 1565, making it the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in the continental United States. Saint Johns County itself was created on 21 July 1821, one of the first two counties organized after Spain ceded Florida to the United States, and it originally covered most of what was then East Florida. The county takes its name from the St. Johns River, itself named for the Spanish mission of San Juan del Puerto, founded near its mouth around 1580.

South of St. Augustine, Butler Beach was founded by Frank B. Butler in the 1920s as a beach resort for African Americans, at a time when it was the only public beach open to Black residents between Jacksonville and Daytona Beach. The site is now a stop on the county’s Black History Trail and a public beachfront park.

Getting There

Interstate 95 crosses the county north to south through World Golf Village and St. Augustine. US 1 and US 1 Alternate run parallel to it through the historic district, and State Road A1A follows the coast through the barrier-island communities.

• Jacksonville — about 35 miles north
• Palatka — about 25 miles west
• Palm Coast — about 15 miles south
• Daytona Beach — about 50 miles south

Jacksonville International Airport, roughly 40 miles north of St. Augustine, is the nearest major commercial airport. Northeast Florida Regional Airport, on the west side of St. Augustine, handles general aviation and charter traffic. Amtrak’s Silver Meteor and Silver Star trains stop at the Jacksonville station, the nearest Amtrak service to the county.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Saint Johns County located?
It sits on Florida’s northeastern Atlantic coast, about 35 miles south of Jacksonville, bordered by Duval, Clay, Putnam and Flagler counties.

What is the population of Saint Johns County?
273,425 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 Census Bureau estimate near 346,328.

How big is Saint Johns County?
822 square miles (2,130 km2) in total, of which 601 square miles are land and 221 square miles are water.

What is the county seat of Saint Johns County?
St. Augustine, founded in 1565 and the oldest continuously inhabited European-founded city in the continental United States, is the county seat.

How many towns and communities are in Saint Johns County?
Three incorporated places — St. Augustine, St. Augustine Beach and Marineland (shared with Flagler County) — plus 16 unincorporated communities and census-designated places, including Fruit Cove, Nocatee, World Golf Village and Ponte Vedra Beach.

What ZIP codes does Saint Johns County use?
32084 and 32080 for St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach; 32081 and 32082 for Nocatee, Ponte Vedra Beach, Palm Valley and Sawgrass; 32092 and 32095 for World Golf Village and northern St. Augustine; 32259 for Fruit Cove and Switzerland; and 32145 for Hastings and Flagler Estates.

What is Saint Johns County known for?
St. Augustine’s Spanish colonial history, and the PGA Tour’s headquarters and the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Florida.