Indian River County () is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the southeastern and east-central portions of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 159,788. Its

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

Vero Beach Vero Beach is a city in and the county seat of Indian River County, Florida, United States. According to the 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,354. Nicknamed "The Hibiscus City", Vero is situated about southeast of Orlando along the ...

. It is Florida's 7th richest county and in 2000 was the 87th richest county in the U.S. by

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

. Indian River County comprises the

Sebastian Sebastian may refer to: People and fictional characters * Sebastian (name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Saint Sebastian, a Christian saint martyred in the 3rd century * Sebastian of Portugal (1554–1578 ...

-Vero Beach- West Vero Corridor, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The MSA was first defined as the Vero Beach, Florida MSA in 2003. It was renamed Sebastian-Vero Beach, Florida MSA in 2005, and Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor, Florida MSA in 2023. The MSA is included in the

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

- Port St. Lucie-

Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...

, Florida, Combined Statistical Area. On November 16-17 2023, northern Indian River County was severely impacted by flooding after 14” of rain fell in less than 24 hours.

History

Prior to 1821, the area of Indian River County was part of the Spanish colony of

East Florida East Florida () was a colony of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1763 to 1783 and a province of the Spanish Empire from 1783 to 1821. The British gained control over Spanish Florida in 1763 as part of the Treaty of Paris (1763), Tre ...

. In 1822, this area became part of St. Johns County, and in 1824 it became part of Mosquito County (original name of Orange County). The

Second Seminole War The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between the United States and groups of people collectively known as Seminoles, consisting of Muscogee, Creek and Black Seminoles as well as oth ...

was fought in 1835 and from 1838 to 1839. Fort Vinton was built for this purpose near the intersection of present-day

Florida State Road 60 State Road 60 (SR 60) is an east–west route transversing Florida from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean. The western terminus of SR 60 is at the ''Sunsets at Pier 60'' site in Clearwater Beach. The eastern terminus is in ...

and 122nd Avenue. In 1844, the county's portion of Mosquito County became part of newly created St. Lucia County. In 1855, St. Lucia County was renamed

Brevard County Brevard County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. It is on the Atlantic coast of eastern Central Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 606,612, making it the 10th-most populated county in Florida. The official county se ...

. In 1905, St. Lucie County was formed from the southern portion of Brevard County; in 1925 Indian River County was formed from the northern portion of St. Lucie County. It was named for the Indian River, which runs through the eastern portion of the county. In 2025, Indian River County celebrated its

centennial A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century. Notable events Notable centennial events at a national or world-level include: * Centennial Exhibition, 1876, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

for turning 100 years old.

2023 Floods in North County

On November 16 and 17, 2023, extreme rainfall struck northern Indian River County, causing severe flooding. Fourteen inches of rain fell in Fellsmere, and eleven inches of rain fell in Vero Lake Estates.

Hurricane history

Indian River County's location in East

Central Florida Central Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, in ...

makes it a very prone location to impacts from Hurricanes.

2004 Atlantic Hurricane Season

Indian River County experienced devastating effects from the

2004 Atlantic Hurricane Season The 2004 Atlantic hurricane season was a very deadly, destructive, and active Atlantic hurricane season, with over 3,200 deaths and more than $61 billion (2004 USD, $95.77 billion 2022 USD) in damage. More than half of the 16 trop ...

. On September 5, 2004, the county was affected by the category 2 landfall of

Hurricane Frances Hurricane Frances was the second most intense tropical cyclone in the Atlantic during 2004 and proved to be very destructive in Florida. It was the sixth named storm, the fourth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic h ...

There was wide spread power outages, flooding, and high winds. Only 21 days later, on September 26, 2004,

Hurricane Jeanne Hurricane Jeanne was the deadliest tropical cyclone in the Atlantic basin since Mitch in 1998, and the deadliest tropical cyclone worldwide in 2004. It was the tenth named storm, the seventh hurricane, and the fifth major hurricane of the se ...

made landfall near Indian River County as a category 3 hurricane with 120 mph winds. A special Tornado Warning was issued (precursor to the

Extreme Wind Warning An extreme wind warning (Specific Area Message Encoding, SAME code EWW) is an alert issued by the National Weather Service for areas on land that will experience sustained surface winds or greater within one hour. As of 2024, it has only been u ...

) for Indian River County due to the right eye wall of the storm striking hitting the county. A 122 mph wind gust was reported in

, and 116 mph wind gust was reported in

. “Catastrophic” beach erosion occurred on the beaches of the county after 6-8 feet of

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the ...

was caused by Jeanne. Widespread flooding occurred, which resulted in the closure of all barrier island bridges being closed. One fatality was caused when an elderly woman was attempting to evacuate her home in Indian River Shores. An F1 tornado touched down in West Vero Corridor causing $34,000 (2025 USD) in damage. A staggering $3.4 billion+ (2025 USD) of damage was inflicted on Indian River County alone, easily making the storm the costliest and most destructive hurricane in Indian River County history.

2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season

On November 10, 2022, Hurricane Nicole made landfall near Vero Beach as a

Category 1 hurricane Category, plural categories, may refer to: General uses *Classification, the general act of allocating things to classes/categories Philosophy *Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) *Category (Kant) *Categories (Peirce) *Category (Vais ...

. Mostly minor damage was reported, however, the iconic Jaycee Beach and Humiston Beach boardwalks sustained significant damage.

Hurricane Milton

Milton 2024-10-09 1624-1642Z KTBW radar loop

On October 9, 2024, as

Hurricane Milton Hurricane Milton was an extremely powerful and destructive tropical cyclone which in 2024 became the most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded over the Gulf of Mexico, tying with Hurricane Rita in 2005. Milton made landfall on the west coa ...

approached Florida, Indian River County was part of a prolific

tornado outbreak A tornado outbreak is the occurrence of multiple tornadoes spawned by the same Synoptic scale meteorology, synoptic scale weather system. The number of tornadoes required to qualify as an outbreak typically are at least six to ten, with at least ...

spawned by Milton. Several strong tornadoes hit the county including the

Lakewood Park Lakewood Park is a Census-designated place in St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. The population was 11,323 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Port St. Lucie Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Lakewood Park is located at (27. ...

- Vero Beach EF3 tornado. Severe damage occurred in the Bethel Creek neighborhood of Vero Beach with homes sustaining heavy damage. Numerous other tornadoes also touched down in the county, with two EF1 tornadoes hitting Downtown Vero Beach within the span of 20 minutes, causing extensive damage. An EF2 tornado touched down farther west near Blue Cypress Lake. In total, six tornadoes struck the county.

Flooding from Hurricane Milton

Torrential rainfall also occurred from Milton, causing

flash flooding A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice and snow. Flash flo ...

in the county. According to preliminary reports, 9.41 inches of rain fell in around 3 hours in Vero Beach. A

flash flood warning A flash flood warning ( SAME code: FFW) is a severe weather warning product of the National Weather Service that is issued by national weather forecasting agencies throughout the world to alert the public that a flash flood is imminent or occurri ...

was issued at 7PM EDT for most of eastern Indian River County due to ongoing flooding.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (18.5%) is water. Indian River County is the ninth-smallest county in Florida by area.

Adjacent counties

- north * St. Lucie County - south *

Okeechobee County Okeechobee County () is a county located in the Florida Heartland region of the state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,644. The county seat is Okeechobee. History Okeechobee County was incorporated in 1917. It was ...

- southwest * Osceola County - northwest

National protected areas

Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge The Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) System, located along a twenty-mile (30 km) section of coastline from Melbourne Beach to Wabasso Beach, Florida, along State Road A1A. T ...

(part) *

Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), and part of the Everglades Headwaters NWR complex, located just off the western coast of Orchid Island, Florida in the Indian River Lagoon east of Sebast ...

Climate and birds

Eight bird species in Indian River County are listed as "highly vulnerable" to

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

: *

Red-headed woodpecker The red-headed woodpecker (''Melanerpes erythrocephalus'') is a mid-sized woodpecker found in temperate North America. Its breeding habitat is open country across southern Canada and the east-central United States. It is rated as least concern ...

* Gray kingbird *

Fish crow The fish crow (''Corvus ossifragus'') is a species of Corvus, crow associated with wetland habitats in the eastern and southeastern United States. Taxonomy and etymology The fish crow was given its Binomial nomenclature, binomial name by the ...

Brown thrasher The brown thrasher (''Toxostoma rufum''), sometimes erroneously called the brown thrush or fox-coloured thrush, is a bird in the family Mimidae, which also includes the Catbird, New World catbirds and mockingbirds. The brown thrasher is abundant ...

Eastern towhee The eastern towhee (''Pipilo erythrophthalmus''), also known as chewink, joree, or joree bird, is a large American sparrow, New World sparrow. The taxonomy of the towhees has been under debate in recent decades, and formerly this bird and the spo ...

Boat-tailed grackle The boat-tailed grackle (''Quiscalus major'') is a passerine bird of the family Icteridae found as a permanent resident on the coasts of the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. Habitat The boat-tailed grackle is found in coastal saltw ...

* Snail kite *

Yellow-throated warbler The yellow-throated warbler (''Setophaga dominica'') is a small bird migration, migratory songbird species in the New World warbler family (biology), family (Parulidae) found in temperate North America. Description In summer, male yellow-throa ...

Bodies of Water

* Blue Cypress Lake *

Indian River Lagoon The Indian River Lagoon is a grouping of three lagoons: the Mosquito Lagoon, the Banana River, and the Indian River, on the Atlantic Coast of Florida; one of the most biodiverse estuaries in the Northern Hemisphere and is home to more than 4, ...

* St. Sebastian River

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 159,788 people, 60,959 households, and 37,647 families residing in the county. As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 112,947 people, 49,137 households, and 32,725 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 57,902 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 87.43%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 8.19%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.25% Native American, 0.74% Asian, 0.03%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 2.15% from other races, and 1.21% from two or more races. 6.53% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 49,137 households, out of which 21.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.50% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 8.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.40% were non-families. 28.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.72. In the county, the population was spread out, with 19.20% under the age of 18, 6.00% from 18 to 24, 22.30% from 25 to 44, 23.30% from 45 to 64, and 29.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females there were 93.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.80 males. The median income for a household in the county was $39,635, and the median income for a family was $46,385. Males had a median income of $30,870 versus $23,379 for females. The

for the county was $27,227. About 6.30% of families and 9.30% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 13.60% of those under age 18 and 5.70% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Airports

* New Hibiscus Airpark *

Sebastian Municipal Airport Sebastian Municipal Airport is a public-use airport located west of the central business district of the city of Sebastian in Indian River County, Florida, United States. The airport is publicly owned. History Similar to other airfields est ...

Vero Beach Regional Airport Vero Beach Regional Airport is a public airport located northwest of Vero Beach in Indian River County, Florida, United States. The airport is publicly owned and is the home of Piper Aircraft. History 1929–1941 In 1929, Bud Holman, whose ...

Bus systems

GoLine is Indian River County's main method of public transportation. The program was introduced in 1994 to provide an alternative option to driving. Due to County population increases in the early and mid 2000s, Indian River County devised a series of bus routes from Barefoot Bay in southern Brevard County to the south end of

. In 2006, GoLine (formerly known as Indian River Transit) was introduced with more stops along and through the

Treasure Coast The Treasure Coast is a region in the southeast of the U.S. state of Florida. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and comprises Indian River, Martin, and St. Lucie counties. The region, whose name refers to the Spanish Treasure Fleet that was lost ...

. By 2010, the GoLine system had a total of 14 stops with an additional four stops planned for 2011/2012. Riders pay no fare or fee to board the bus. In 2010 the buses operated between 8:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. weekdays and from 9:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. on Saturdays. Some routes have extended operating hours depending on location.

Train

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

began planning to add service along the east coast of Florida, including a station in

, in 2000. In 2012, Amtrak announced that it hoped to start service over the

Florida East Coast Railway The Florida East Coast Railway is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida, currently owned by Grupo México. Built primarily in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the FEC was a p ...

(FEC) line in 2013. The All Aboard Florida project (now

Brightline Brightline (reporting mark BLFX) is an intercity rail route in the United States that runs between Miami and Orlando, Florida. Part of the route runs on track owned and shared by the Florida East Coast Railway. Brightline is the only privat ...

) was also announced in 2012, and now operates over part of the FEC track that Amtrak intended to use, but does not stop anywhere in Indian River County. Florida East Coast Railway serves a team yard in Vero Beach for off-line customers that don't have direct rail service via spurs. There are two lumber and sheetrock/structural steel customers who receive boxcars, center beam and bulkhead flatcars, and occasionally- gondolas, at the team yard.

Major roads

* Interstate 95 * U.S. Highway 1 * State Road A1A * State Road 60 * State Road 510 (Wabasso Causeway) * State Road 656 (Alma Lee Loy Bridge) * County Road 510 * County Road 512 * County Road 606 (Oslo Road)

Economy

Healthcare, education, government, and retail sales are important employment segments in Indian River County. (some numbers have not been updated since 2019), the largest employers in the county were:

Libraries

* Indian River County Main Library, in

* North Indian River County Library, in

* The Brackett Library, at the

Indian River State College Indian River State College (IRSC) is a public college based in Fort Pierce, Florida, United States. Serving the Treasure Coast region, it is part of the Florida College System and offers associate and bachelor's degree programs as well as vocati ...

Mueller Campus, in

Education

Indian River County School District operates the public schools of Indian River County.

Elementary Schools

* Liberty Magnet Elementary School * North County Charter School * Sebastian Elementary School * Pelican Island Elementary School * Treasure Coast Elementary School * Fellsmere Elementary School * Beachland Elementary School * Indian River Academy * Glendale Elementary School * Vero Beach Elementary School * Rosewood Magnet School * Osceola Magnet School * Imagine School

Middle Schools

* Storm Grove Middle School * Sebastian River Middle School * Gifford Middle School * Oslo Middle School * Sebastian Charter Junior High School * Imagine School

High Schools

* Freshman Learning Center (VBHS) *

Indian River Charter High School Indian River Charter High School (IRCHS) is a co-educational public charter high school in Vero Beach, Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It border ...

* Sebastian River High School *

Vero Beach High School Vero Beach High School (VBHS) is a 9–12 public high school in Vero Beach, Florida, Vero Beach, Florida, United States that was established in 1925. The school is operated by the Indian River County School District, and it's similar to Keyport ...

Private schools

* Glendale Christian School * Indian River Christian School * Master's Academy * St. Edwards School * St. Helen Catholic School * Tabernacle Baptist School * The Willow School * SunCoast Primary School

Colleges and universities

Mueller Center *

Campus

Elections

Indian River County lies at the northern end of a belt stretching to Collier County in the southwest that was the first part of Florida to politically distance itself from the "

Solid South The Solid South was the electoral voting bloc for the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the Southern United States between the end of the Reconstruction era in 1877 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In the aftermath of the Co ...

": the last Democrat to win a majority in the county was

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

. Only four Democrats have managed 40 percent or more of the county's vote since then. In 1992, indeed, Ross Perot came second, fifteen votes ahead of President-elect

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

, this being one of only four Florida counties where he did so.David Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections
1992 Presidential General Election Data Graphs – Florida by County
/ref>

Voter registration

According to the Secretary of State's office, Republicans are a plurality of registered voters in Indian River County.

Communities

Cities

* Fellsmere *

Towns

* Indian River Shores *

Orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

Census-designated places

* Florida Ridge * Gifford * Roseland *

South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a Neighborhoods of Miami Beach, Florida, neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south ...

* Vero Beach South * Wabasso * Wabasso Beach * West Vero Corridor *

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...

(formerly North Beach) * Winter Beach

Other unincorporated communities

* Blue Cypress Village * Citrus Ridge * Cummings * Nevins *

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

* Riomar * Royal Poinciana Park * Vero Lake Estates

Notes

References

Governmental