{"id":1491,"date":"2023-02-08T15:20:57","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T15:20:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=1491"},"modified":"2026-08-08T22:53:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T22:53:15","slug":"okeechobee-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/okeechobee-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Okeechobee County, Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Okeechobee County is a county in Florida, United States, about 60 miles northwest of West Palm<br \/>\nBeach. It had a population of 39,644 at the 2020 census, an estimated 40,816 by 2024, and covers<br \/>\n892 square miles (2,310 km2) centred near 27\u00b023\u2032N 80\u00b053\u2032W.<\/p>\n<p>Okeechobee is the county seat and the county&#8217;s only incorporated city; its postal code is 34972. The county holds 1 city, 2 census-designated places and 4 named unincorporated communities, and it runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 12093.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Okeechobee County<\/h2>\n<p>Okeechobee County has 7 named places on record: 1 incorporated city, 2 census-designated<br \/>\nplaces (CDPs) and 4 unincorporated communities with no local government of their own. Florida<br \/>\nhas no civil townships, so this table skips that column.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Okeechobee<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>5,254<\/td>\n<td>34972<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Taylor Creek<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>4,470<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Cypress Quarters<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>1,029<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Upthegrove Beach<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>34974<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Barber Quarters<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Fort Drum<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Osowaw Junction<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Two names on the county&#8217;s old settlement list, Basinger and Fort Kissimmee, are actually in<br \/>\nHighlands County &mdash; Fort Basinger sits about 10 miles northwest of Okeechobee city but on the<br \/>\nfar side of the county line, and Fort Kissimmee is further west along the Kissimmee River. Both<br \/>\nare dropped from this list.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>34972 &mdash; Okeechobee (the county&#8217;s main post office)<\/li>\n<li>34973 &mdash; Okeechobee (post office box ZIP)<\/li>\n<li>34974 &mdash; Okeechobee and Upthegrove Beach, south of the city<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Taylor Creek, Cypress Quarters, Barber Quarters, Fort Drum and Osowaw Junction have no ZIP<br \/>\ncode of their own; mail there is delivered under one of Okeechobee&#8217;s three codes.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Okeechobee County sits in Florida&#8217;s interior lowlands, north of Lake Okeechobee, in flat<br \/>\nprairie and pasture broken by cypress heads and citrus groves. Of the county&#8217;s 892 square<br \/>\nmiles, 769 are land and 123 are water, about 13.8 percent &mdash; the highest share of any<br \/>\nFlorida county not on the coast, almost entirely because the county line runs out into Lake<br \/>\nOkeechobee itself. The Kissimmee River flows south through the county&#8217;s western half before<br \/>\nemptying into the lake, and the Kissimmee River Canal parallels US 441 along the lake&#8217;s<br \/>\nnorthern shore.<\/p>\n<p>Osceola County lies to the north, Polk and Highlands counties to the west, Indian River County<br \/>\nto the northeast, St. Lucie and Martin counties to the east, and Glades, Hendry and Palm Beach<br \/>\ncounties share the lake to the south &mdash; all five counties bordering Lake Okeechobee meet at<br \/>\none point near its center. <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/osceola-county\/\">Osceola<br \/>\nCounty<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/polk-county-florida\/\">Polk County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/highlands-county\/\">Highlands County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/indian-river-county\/\">Indian River County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/saint-lucie-county\/\">St. Lucie County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/glades-county\/\">Glades County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/hendry-county\/\">Hendry County<\/a> and <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/palm-beach-county\/\">Palm Beach County<\/a> all border<br \/>\nOkeechobee. Martin County also borders the county across the lake but has no page on this site<br \/>\nyet.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Okeechobee County had a population of 39,644 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts<br \/>\nthe county near 40,816 residents in 2024. Okeechobee city and Taylor Creek CDP are the two<br \/>\nlargest communities, together holding roughly a quarter of the county&#8217;s population. Median<br \/>\nhousehold income runs $57,984 (2024), well below Florida&#8217;s statewide figure of $73,311<br \/>\n(2023 ACS). Population density works out to roughly 52 people per square mile of land, among the<br \/>\nmore rural counties on Florida&#8217;s Heartland, well below the statewide average.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Retail trade employs the most workers in the county, about 2,090 people, followed by health<br \/>\ncare and social assistance at 2,061 and construction at 1,923. Cattle ranching remains central to<br \/>\nthe local economy &mdash; Okeechobee County is regularly counted among Florida&#8217;s leading<br \/>\ncattle-producing counties, alongside citrus groves and sod farms in the county&#8217;s western<br \/>\nhalf. Raulerson Hospital, on US 441 in Okeechobee, is the county&#8217;s main health care<br \/>\nemployer. Lake Okeechobee itself draws bass anglers from across the country, and the county<br \/>\nmarkets itself as a fishing destination built around the lake&#8217;s rim canal. The county&#8217;s<br \/>\nbiggest annual event is the Okeechobee Music &amp; Arts Festival, launched in 2016 and drawing an<br \/>\nestimated 30,000 attendees each March to a site outside the city.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>Florida&#8217;s legislature organized Okeechobee County in 1917, carving it from parts of<br \/>\nOsceola, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties. It takes its name from Lake Okeechobee, itself from<br \/>\nSeminole words meaning big water. Okeechobee, the county seat, incorporated on 4 June 1915, two<br \/>\nyears before the county itself was formed.<\/p>\n<p>In 1855, a Seminole confederation meeting near what is now Taylor Creek helped trigger the<br \/>\nstart of the Third Seminole War, after decades of pressure to remove remaining Seminole people<br \/>\nfrom Florida. The 1928 Okeechobee hurricane, a Category 5 storm with winds near 160 mph, drove a<br \/>\nstorm surge over the lake&#8217;s southern dike on 17 September that year, flooding hundreds of<br \/>\nsquare miles more than 20 feet deep in places. The disaster killed an estimated 2,500 people<br \/>\naround the lake, most of them migrant farm workers in communities south of the water; Okeechobee<br \/>\nCounty itself recorded 27 confirmed deaths. The flooding led directly to construction of the<br \/>\nHerbert Hoover Dike, which now rings the lake.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>No interstate crosses Okeechobee County. Florida&#8217;s Turnpike ends at US 441 on the<br \/>\ncounty&#8217;s eastern edge; US 98 and US 441 both run through Okeechobee city, along with State<br \/>\nRoads 70, 78 and 710.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>West Palm Beach &mdash; about 60 miles southeast<\/li>\n<li>Fort Pierce &mdash; about 34 miles east<\/li>\n<li>Sebring &mdash; about 41 miles west<\/li>\n<li>Orlando &mdash; about 95 miles north<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Okeechobee County Airport, three miles northwest of the city, handles general aviation only.<br \/>\nPalm Beach International Airport, roughly 65 miles southeast, is the nearest major commercial<br \/>\nairport. Amtrak&#8217;s Silver Meteor stops at the Sebring station, about 41 miles west, on its<br \/>\nrun between Chicago and Miami.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Okeechobee County located?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt sits in Florida&#8217;s interior, north of Lake Okeechobee, about 60 miles northwest of West<br \/>\nPalm Beach, bordered by Osceola, Polk, Highlands, Indian River, St. Lucie, Glades, Hendry and<br \/>\nPalm Beach counties.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Okeechobee County?<\/strong><br \/>\n39,644 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 40,816.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Okeechobee County?<\/strong><br \/>\n892 square miles (2,310 km2), of which 769 square miles are land and 123 square miles are Lake<br \/>\nOkeechobee and other water.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Okeechobee County?<\/strong><br \/>\nOkeechobee, incorporated in 1915, is the county seat and the county&#8217;s only incorporated<br \/>\ncity.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns and villages are in Okeechobee County?<\/strong><br \/>\nOne city &mdash; Okeechobee &mdash; plus two census-designated places, Taylor Creek and Cypress<br \/>\nQuarters, and four unincorporated communities: Upthegrove Beach, Barber Quarters, Fort Drum and<br \/>\nOsowaw Junction.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes does Okeechobee County use?<\/strong><br \/>\n34972 and 34973 for Okeechobee city, and 34974 for the south side of the city and Upthegrove<br \/>\nBeach.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Okeechobee County known for?<\/strong><br \/>\nCattle ranching, bass fishing on Lake Okeechobee, and the 1928 hurricane that killed an estimated<br \/>\n2,500 people around the lake and led to the Herbert Hoover Dike.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/florida\/\">Towns and villages in Florida<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Okeechobee County is a county in Florida, United States, about 60 miles northwest of West Palm Beach. It had a population of 39,644 at the 2020 census, an estimated 40,816 by 2024, and covers 892 square miles (2,310 km2) centred near 27\u00b023\u2032N 80\u00b053\u2032W. Okeechobee is the county seat and the county&#8217;s only incorporated city; its [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Okeechobee County, Florida","_seopress_titles_desc":"All 7 towns and communities in Okeechobee County, Florida - type, population and ZIP for each, plus the 1928 hurricane and cattle-country history.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-1491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-florida","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1491"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9577,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1491\/revisions\/9577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}