City · Duval County, Florida

Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville is a city in Duval County, Florida, part of the Jacksonville, FL metro area. It has 977,670 residents. Jacksonville, Florida has a quality-of-life score of 26 out of 100 (low), ranking #11,644 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Florida it ranks #585 of 780 cities and towns. It ranks best on comfortable days (high), new business applications (high) and drinking water violations (low). It ranks worst on public libraries (low), rent-burdened households (high) and homicide rate (high).

26Low

Quality-of-life score: #11,644 of 15,651 cities and towns
Florida: #585 of 780 in FL
Population: 977,670 (2020-2024)
Land area: 747 mi²
Density: 1,308.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 1235000

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety3#15,089/15,637
Economy40#9,394/15,631
Housing23#11,559/14,977
Health29#11,134/15,609
Healthcare43#8,876/15,650
Environment29#11,039/15,453
Education58#6,571/15,649
Infrastructure56#6,919/15,650
Community26#11,583/15,651
Leisure & amenities60#6,326/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Jacksonville, Florida ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Duval County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Comfortable days · high35.7%
95/100Florida 32.4%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationDuval County value
New business applications · high23.1 /1k
94/100Florida 27.6 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauDuval County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Florida 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDuval County value
Depression · low20.1%
83/100Florida 18.0%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
New homes permitted · high6.4 /1k
81/100Florida 7.0 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Average weekly wage · high$1,449
80/100Florida $1,399United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsDuval County value

Weaknesses

Public libraries · low0.2 /10k
7/100Florida 0.2 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesDuval County value
Rent-burdened households · high56.6%
8/100Florida 60.1%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Homicide rate · high10.4 /100k
8/100Florida 4.1 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataDuval County value
Violent crime rate · high514 /100k
9/100Florida 261 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationDuval County value
Drought exposure · high82%
10/100Florida 78%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAADuval County value
Students per teacher · high19.1×
10/100Florida 18.3×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsDuval County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
890,467 (2015-2019) → 977,670 (2020-2024)
+9.8%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedWorsening
10.6 /1k (2021) → 6.4 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−40%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
83.7% (2015-2019) → 90.9% (2020-2024)
+7.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
3.2× (2015-2019) → 4.2× (2020-2024)
+33%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
50.2% (2015-2019) → 56.6% (2020-2024)
+6.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$54,701 (2015-2019) → $69,872 (2020-2024)
+28%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Jacksonville, Florida improved on 8 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 4. 2 moved within the margin of error and 1 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved8

Unemployment−1.4 points5.9% → 4.6%
Bachelor's++4.6 points28.6% → 33.2%
Commute−1.1 min25.2 min → 24.1 min
Child poverty−2.4 points21.9% → 19.6%
Uninsured−0.7 points13.7% → 13.0%

Declined4

Price / income+1.0×3.2× → 4.2×
Rent burden+6.4 points50.2% → 56.6%
Rent / income+2.7 points30.1% → 32.8%
Transit use−0.9 points1.9% → 1.0%

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of Jacksonville, Florida between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	25.2 min2015-2019	24.1 min2020-2024	−1.1 min	Improved	61%
Bachelor's degree or higher	28.6%2015-2019	33.2%2020-2024	+4.6 points	Improved	64%
Broadband subscriptions	83.7%2015-2019	90.9%2020-2024	+7.2 points	Improved	45%
Child poverty rate	21.9%2015-2019	19.6%2020-2024	−2.4 points	Improved	58%
Effective property tax rate	0.97%2015-2019	0.76%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Little change	60%
High school diploma or higher	89.5%2015-2019	91.1%2020-2024	+1.6 points	Improved	54%
Home price to income ratio	3.2×2015-2019	4.2×2020-2024	+1.0×	Declined	21%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4642015-2019	0.4662020-2024	+0.002	Within the margin of error	49%
Median household income	$54,7012015-2019	$69,8722020-2024	+28%	Improved	50%
Poverty rate	14.9%2015-2019	14.5%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	47%
Public transit commuters	1.9%2015-2019	1.0%2020-2024	−0.9 points	Declined	19%
Rent as share of income	30.1%2015-2019	32.8%2020-2024	+2.7 points	Declined	35%
Rent-burdened households	50.2%2015-2019	56.6%2020-2024	+6.4 points	Declined	33%
Unemployment rate	5.9%2015-2019	4.6%2020-2024	−1.4 points	Improved	75%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	13.7%2015-2019	13.0%2020-2024	−0.7 points	Improved	55%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Jacksonville, Florida five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Jacksonville, Florida in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Jacksonville, Florida itself moved −3 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

977,670 residents (±41)

Men
Women

80 and over
70–79
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

394,370 households (±1,732)

Jacksonville, Florida
Florida share

Under $25k17%65,776
$25k–50k19%75,135
$50k–75k18%70,084

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

394,370 households (±1,732)

Jacksonville, Florida
Florida share

Own58%227,054
Rent42%167,316

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+1.5 points).

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

480,531 workers (±3,754)

Jacksonville, Florida
Florida share

Drive alone71%340,461
Carpool8.9%42,928
Public transit1.0%4,729

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Jacksonville, FL

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Duval County, the county holding most of Jacksonville's residents.

Duval County has 28,342 employer establishments, 272 for every 10,000 residents (1.10× the US rate of 248; 0.97× Florida's), with 508,104 paid employees at an average annual pay of $64,686. The Census Bureau also counts 112,432 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 28,342; 112,432 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 272; US 248 · Florida 282
Paid employees: 508,104
Average annual pay: $64,686; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Duval County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	2,570	24.7	1.18×About typical	31,685	$83,817	5,387
Specialty trade contractors	2,082	20	1.29×More than typical	22,401	$62,816	6,685
Restaurants and other eating places	1,901	18.2	0.99×About typical	38,992	$23,881	551
Lessors of real estate	1,510	14.5	1.18×About typical	5,784	$78,921	8,466
Offices of physicians	1,069	10.3	1.58×More than typical	15,764	$113,535	886
Services to buildings and dwellings	962	9.2	1.37×More than typical	8,338	$38,976	9,900
Construction of buildings	951	9.1	1.21×About typical	9,168	$104,946	3,946
Limited-service restaurants	911	8.7	1.09×About typical	17,961	$20,521	208
Management, scientific and technical consulting	839	8.1	1.20×About typical	4,813	$78,030	3,288
Truck transportation	835	8	1.59×More than typical	10,143	$60,015	4,950
Building finishing contractors	764	7.3	1.93×More than typical	3,344	$49,204	3,110
Full-service restaurants	751	7.2	0.94×About typical	18,126	$28,075	197

Rank places for an industry Open Duval County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 1,041,746 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $2B of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Jacksonville, Florida: $2,025 per resident (US $1,995).

Obligations: $2B; −12% vs FY2025
Per resident: $2,025; US $1,995
Sole-source: 28%; US 30%
Single offer: 5.8%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of the Navy$644M33%
Maritime Administration$307.2M16%
Department of the Army$284.1M14%
Defense Logistics Agency$188.5M9.5%
USTRANSCOM$142.9M7.2%
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services$116.9M5.9%
U.S. Customs and Border Protection$50.1M2.5%
Defense Contract Management Agency$38.7M2.0%

Top recipients

CROWLEY GOVERNMENT SERVICES, INC.$573.8M29%
CLOGIC LLC$186.9M9.4%
TOTE SERVICES, LLC$89.1M4.5%
FIRST COAST SERVICE OPTIONS, INC.$66.2M3.3%
AMENTUM SERVICES, INC.$59.7M3.0%

Spending by fiscal year

1.5BFY2017
1.9BFY2018
1.9BFY2019
2.6BFY2020
2.5BFY2021
2.3BFY2022
2.1BFY2023
2.4B

Top industries (NAICS)

Deep sea, coastal, and Great Lakes water transportation · 4831$504.7M25%
Other transportation equipment manufacturing · 3369$187.1M9.5%
Ship and boat building · 3366$133.8M6.8%
Freight transportation arrangement · 4885$118.3M6.0%
Architectural, engineering, and related services · 5413$116.3M5.9%
Nonresidential building construction · 2362$110.3M

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Jacksonville, Florida

N105A/PM3 HAYCOX CONTRACT AWARD FOR OPERATION & MAINTENANCE OF 6 GOVERNMENT-OWNED MARITIME PREPOSITIONING FORCE VESSELS.$452.9M
CROWLEY GOVERNMENT SERVICES, INC.· Duval County, FL· Transportation & logistics· Aug 13, 2022 – Jun 4, 2026· N3220522C3101
PART A/PART B MEDICARE ADMINISTRATIVE CONTRACTOR (MAC) JURISDICTION N (JN). JURISDICTION N INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING STATES AND AREAS: FLORIDA AND THE U.S. TERRITORIES OF PUERTO RICO AND THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS.$319.9M
FIRST COAST SERVICE OPTIONS, INC.· Duval County, FL· Education & social services· Apr 28, 2022 – Aug 31, 2026· 75FCMC22C0018
THE CONTRACTOR IS HEREBY TASKED TO DELIVER NSMV V TO THE GOVERNMENT (IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE CONTRACT) AT A FIRM-FIXED PRICE OF $301,711,505.00. THIS DELIVERY ORDER ALSO PROVIDES AND OBLIGATES THE FUND ($301,711,505.00) FO$309.6M
TOTE SERVICES, LLC· Duval County, FL

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 6, 2026, loaded Oct 6, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Jacksonville, Florida, so they do not add up across cities.

Jacksonville, Florida's figures are part of those of Duval County, FL ($2B in FY2026), never added to them: 99% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Jacksonville is mostly in Duval County.

See federal money in Duval County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Jacksonville, Florida is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Duval County46100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Jacksonville, FL55

Other cities and towns in Duval County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/1235000

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends