{"id":1503,"date":"2023-02-10T07:36:29","date_gmt":"2023-02-10T07:36:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=1503"},"modified":"2026-07-31T19:36:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T19:36:57","slug":"polk-county-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/polk-county-florida\/","title":{"rendered":"Polk County, Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

Polk County is a county in Florida, United States, roughly 35 miles east of Tampa and 55 miles southwest of Orlando along the I-4 corridor. It had a population of 725,046 at the 2020 census, an estimated 874,790 by 2024, and covers 1,798 square miles (4,660 km2) of land centred near 27\u00b058\u2032N 81\u00b042\u2032W.<\/p>\n

Bartow is the county seat; its postal code is 33830. The county holds 13 cities and 4 incorporated towns, plus several large unincorporated communities the Census Bureau counts as CDPs, and it runs on Eastern time. Its FIPS code is 12105. Florida has no civil townships; Polk’s local government is organized into five county commission districts instead.<\/p>\n

Towns & Villages in Polk County<\/h2>\n

Polk County has 17 incorporated places — 13 cities and 4 towns — and dozens of unincorporated communities. The table below covers all 17 incorporated places plus the five largest CDPs by population. Type labels: City · seat<\/strong> is the county seat, City<\/strong> and Town<\/strong> are incorporated municipalities, CDP<\/strong> is an unincorporated census-designated place with no city government of its own.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Place<\/th>\nType<\/th>\nPop. (2020)<\/th>\nZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Lakeland<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n112,641<\/td>\n33801<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Poinciana<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n69,309*<\/td>\n34758<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Winter Haven<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n49,219<\/td>\n33880<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Haines City<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n26,669<\/td>\n33844<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bartow<\/td>\nCity · seat<\/td>\n19,309<\/td>\n33830<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lake Wales<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n16,361<\/td>\n33853<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Auburndale<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n15,616<\/td>\n33823<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Highland City<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n12,355<\/td>\n33846<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cypress Gardens<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n10,169<\/td>\n33884<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Davenport<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n9,043<\/td>\n33837<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kathleen<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n6,486<\/td>\n33849<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lake Alfred<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n6,374<\/td>\n33850<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Combee Settlement<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n5,911<\/td>\n33801<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dundee<\/td>\nTown<\/td>\n5,235<\/td>\n33838<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fort Meade<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n5,100<\/td>\n33841<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mulberry<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n3,952<\/td>\n33860<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Eagle Lake<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n3,008<\/td>\n33839<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Frostproof<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n2,877<\/td>\n33843<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Polk City<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n2,713<\/td>\n33868<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lake Hamilton<\/td>\nTown<\/td>\n1,537<\/td>\n33851<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Highland Park<\/td>\nTown<\/td>\n251<\/td>\n33898<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hillcrest Heights<\/td>\nTown<\/td>\n243<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

*Poinciana’s 69,309 residents are split between Polk and Osceola counties, so the figure in the table is not directly comparable to a single-county municipality — most of the CDP’s built-up area sits across the line in Osceola. Two other pairs are easy to mix up: Highland Park, a 251-person incorporated village near Fort Meade, is not Highland City, a 12,355-person unincorporated community east of Lakeland; and Lake Alfred, Lake Hamilton and Lake Wales are three separate municipalities that share only the “Lake” prefix common to this chain-of-lakes county.<\/p>\n

ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n