Hernando County, Florida

Hernando County is a county in Florida, United States, on the Gulf coast about 45 miles north of Tampa. It had a population of 194,515 at the 2020 census, an estimated 207,018 by 2024, and covers 473 square miles (1,225 km2) of land plus 116 square miles of water, centred near 28°33′N 82°28′W.

Brooksville is the county seat and the county’s only incorporated city; its postal code is 34601. The county holds 1 city, 21 census-designated places and 4 further unincorporated communities, and it runs on Eastern time. Its FIPS code is 12053.

Towns & Villages in Hernando County

Twenty-six named places sit inside the county line. Only Brooksville is an incorporated city — everything else is a census-designated place (CDP) or an unincorporated community with no city government of its own. The list below runs largest to smallest by 2020 population.

Four pairs confuse visitors, so worth spelling out. Weeki Wachee is three different places: the former City of Weeki Wachee (16 residents, dissolved in 2020, listed above) is distinct from the CDPs Weeki Wachee Gardens (1,138) and North Weeki Wachee (9,131) — none of the three border all the others. Aripeka straddles the Hernando–Pasco county line, and its 320-person population count covers both sides, not just the Hernando portion. Ridge Manor’s mailing ZIPs, 33523 and 33597, are Dade City addresses even though the CDP itself sits inside Hernando County. And "High Point, Florida" is a shared name: the High Point in this table is the Hernando County CDP near Brooksville, not the unrelated High Point in Palm Beach County.

ZIP Codes

• 34601 — Brooksville (also covers Lake Lindsey)
• 34602 — Brooksville, east side (also covers part of Ridge Manor)
• 34604 — Spring Hill's northeast end, plus Masaryktown and Garden Grove
• 34606 — Spring Hill (also covers Timber Pines and the unincorporated Weeki Wachee community)
• 34607 — Spring Hill (also covers Hernando Beach and Weeki Wachee Gardens)
• 34608, 34609, 34610 — Spring Hill, central and south
• 34613, 34614 — Brooksville, west side (34613 also covers Brookridge)
• 34636 — Istachatta
• 34661 — Nobleton
• 34679 — Aripeka (shared with Pasco County)

South Brooksville, North Brooksville, North Weeki Wachee, High Point, Hill 'n Dale, Wiscon, Spring Lake, Pine Island, Bayport, Croom, Rolling Acres and Royal Highlands have no ZIP code of their own; mail there routes through the nearest Brooksville or Spring Hill code, since none was ever platted with its own post office.

Geography

Hernando County sits on Florida's west-central Gulf coast. The interior is dominated by the Withlacoochee State Forest lands, including the 20,000-acre Croom Tract, and the Withlacoochee River forms much of the eastern boundary. The Weeki Wachee River, fed by Weeki Wachee Springs, runs from the county's interior to the Gulf through Hernando Beach's canal system. Along the coast, low-lying land gives way to tidal marsh and barrier islands such as Pine Island.

Citrus County borders Hernando to the north, Sumter County lies to the east, and Pasco County borders it to the south; the Gulf of Mexico forms the western edge. A live post covers Pasco County. Citrus County and Sumter County do not currently have a Florida county page on this site under a working slug — the Citrus County stub redirects elsewhere, and Sumter County's Florida page 301s to an unrelated Sumter County in South Carolina.

Demographics

The county counted 194,515 residents at the 2020 census and an estimated 207,018 by 2024, a density of roughly 411 people per square mile of land in 2020, rising with growth. Spring Hill and North Weeki Wachee are the two largest communities, at 113,568 and 9,131 residents. Median household income was $66,058 in 2024, below Florida's statewide figure of $77,700. Several of the largest CDPs — Brookridge, High Point, Timber Pines — are age-restricted or retirement-oriented communities, and median ages above 65 are common outside Spring Hill and Brooksville.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance is the largest employment sector, with 13,890 workers in 2024, ahead of retail trade at 11,956 and construction at 7,977, out of roughly 84,853 employed county residents. The Hernando County School Board is the single largest employer at 3,002 people, followed by Oak Hill Hospital in Spring Hill (1,561), Walmart's retail stores (1,350), Publix (1,050) and a roughly 1.6-million-square-foot Walmart Distribution Center near I-75 (1,020). Weeki Wachee Springs park, home to the long-running underwater mermaid shows, is the county's best-known tourist draw and remained open under state park management after the City of Weeki Wachee dissolved. The Brooksville Raid, a Civil War skirmish, is reenacted annually in the county.

History

Hernando County was established on February 27, 1843, two years before Florida became a state, carved from parts of Alachua, Hillsborough and Orange Counties. It was named for the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, briefly renamed Benton County in 1844 for a pro-expansion U.S. senator, and reverted to its original name by 1850 after residents objected to his politics. The original county covered present-day Citrus and Pasco Counties too, until the state legislature split them off on June 2, 1887, fixing the county’s current boundaries.

During the Civil War the county supplied cotton, lumber and food to the Confederacy; in June and July 1864, Union troops from the 2nd U.S. Florida Cavalry marched on Brooksville in what is remembered as the Brooksville Raid, destroying Confederate stockpiles. Bayport, then a working Gulf port and briefly the county seat before Brooksville took over in 1856, saw Union forces intercept blockade runners in the same period. Reconstruction brought a courthouse fire that destroyed county records on September 29, 1877, and Klan violence targeting Black residents. Brooksville itself was named for Preston Brooks, the pro-slavery congressman who caned Senator Charles Sumner on the Senate floor in 1856 — a naming choice that has drawn renewed local criticism in recent years.

Getting There

Interstate 75 crosses only the eastern edge of the county, with a single interchange at Exit 301. US 19 runs the length of the Gulf coast side, US 41 parallels it through the county’s center, and US 98 cuts diagonally from northwest to southeast. The toll Suncoast Parkway (SR 589) connects Spring Hill south to Tampa.

• Tampa — 45 miles south
• Ocala — 45 miles north
• Dade City — 20 miles south
• Crystal River — 25 miles north

Tampa International Airport, about 45 miles south via the Suncoast Parkway, is the nearest commercial airport; Brooksville–Tampa Bay Regional Airport handles general aviation within the county. Hernando County has no Amtrak station; the nearest is Tampa Union Station.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Hernando County?
Hernando County is on Florida’s west-central Gulf coast, about 45 miles north of Tampa, bordered by Citrus County to the north, Sumter County to the east and Pasco County to the south.

What is the population of Hernando County?
The county had a population of 194,515 at the 2020 census, estimated at 207,018 by 2024.

How big is Hernando County?
It covers 473 square miles of land (1,225 km2) plus 116 square miles of water, 589 square miles total.

What is the county seat of Hernando County?
Brooksville is the county seat and the only incorporated city in the county.

How many towns and villages are in Hernando County?
Twenty-six named places: 1 city, 21 census-designated places and 4 further unincorporated communities.

Which ZIP codes does Hernando County use?
Ten primary ZIP codes cover the county, from 34601 in Brooksville through 34604–34610 across Spring Hill to 34679 in Aripeka; smaller places share a neighboring code.

Is Weeki Wachee still a city?
No. The City of Weeki Wachee, population 16, was dissolved by the Florida Legislature in 2020. Weeki Wachee Springs park, with its mermaid shows, kept operating under state management and is unaffected.

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