The Jacksonville Metropolitan Area, also called the First Coast, Metro Jacksonville, or Northeast Florida, is the

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

centered on the principal city of

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

and including the First Coast of

North Florida North Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida comprising the northernmost part of the state. Along with South Florida and Central Florida, it is one of Florida's three most common "directional" regi ...

. As of the 2020 census, the total population was 1,605,848. The Jacksonville–Kingsland–Palatka, FL–GA Combined Statistical Area (CSA) had a population of 1,733,937 in 2020 and was the 34th largest CSA in the United States. The Jacksonville metropolitan area is the 40th largest in the country and the fourth largest in the State of Florida, behind 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 ...

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, and

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

metropolitan areas.

Definitions

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

The Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is an area designated by the U.S.

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The office's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, while it also examines agency pro ...

used for statistical purposes by the

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

and other government agencies. The metropolitan statistical area had a total population of approximately 1,605,848 as of 2020 and is the 39th largest in the United States and the fourth largest in the state of Florida. The OMB defines the Jacksonville MSA as consisting of five

counties 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 ...

. The components of the metropolitan area with their estimated 2020 populations are listed below: * Jacksonville metropolitan statistical area (1,605,848) ** Duval County, Florida (995,567) ** St. Johns County, Florida (273,425) **

Clay County Clay County is the name of 18 counties in the United States. Most are named for Henry Clay, U.S. Senator and statesman: * Clay County, Alabama * Clay County, Arkansas (named for John Clayton, and originally named Clayton County) * Clay County, Fl ...

, Florida (218,245) ** Nassau County, Florida (90,352) ** Baker County, Florida (28,259)

Combined Statistical Area (CSA)

The OMB also defines a slightly larger region as a Combined Statistical Area (CSA). In 2012 the OMB also defined the Jacksonville–Kingsland–Palatka, FL–GA Combined Statistical Area, which included metropolitan Jacksonville as well as the

Palatka, Florida Palatka () is a city in and the county seat of Putnam County, Florida, Putnam County, Florida, United States. Palatka is the principal city of the Palatka Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is home to 72,893 residents. The Palatka micropolitan ...

and

Kingsland, Georgia Kingsland is a city in Camden County, Georgia, Camden County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The population was 18,337 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 15,946 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of th ...

Micropolitan Statistical Areas (comprising

Putnam County, Florida Putnam County is a county located in the northern part of the state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 73,321. Its county seat is Palatka. Putnam County comprises the Palatka, Florida Micropolitan Statistical Area, which i ...

and

Camden County, Georgia Camden County is a county located in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2020 census, its population was 54,768. Its county seat is Woodbine, and the largest city is Kingsland. It is one of the original ...

). The CSA had a population of 1,733,937 in 2020 and was the 34th largest CSA. The components of the CSA with their 2020 census populations are listed below: * Jacksonville, FL Metropolitan Area (1,733,937) ** Palatka, FL Micropolitan area (73,321) *** Putnam County, Florida (73,321) ** Kingsland, GA Micropolitan area (54,768) *** Camden County, Georgia (54,768)

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 1,605,848 people, _ households, and _ families residing within the MSA.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 1,345,596 people, 524,146 households, and 350,483 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 69.9%

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 ...

, 21.8%

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 ...

, 0.4% Native American, 3.4% Asian, 0.1%

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 ...

, 1.8% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. 12.9% 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. The median income for a household in the MSA was $45,143, and the median income for a family was $51,327. Males had a median income of $35,537 versus $25,093 for females.

Politics

The Jacksonville metropolitan area has historically been a Republican stronghold and is considered the most conservative among Florida's four largest metropolitan areas: Tampa Bay, Orlando, Miami, and Jacksonville. Duval County, the most populous county in the region, has predominantly supported Republican candidates, having voted Democratic only once since 1980. However, due to demographic shifts, including a growing Black population, the county voted Democratic in the 2020 presidential election for the first time since 1976.

Education

Higher education

Higher education in the Jacksonville area is offered at many institutions. There are three public institutions in the area.

University of North Florida The University of North Florida (UNF) is a public university, public research university in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern ...

(UNF), founded in 1969, is a

public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

in southeastern Jacksonville. It has over 17,000 students and offers a variety of bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs. Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ), is a public

state college State College is a borough and home rule municipality in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a college town, home to the University Park campus of The Pennsylvania State University. State College is the largest designated borou ...

located in downtown Jacksonville with satellite campuses around the city. St. Johns River State College is a state college with campuses in St. Augustine, Orange Park, and Palatka. Many private schools are also located in the area. Edward Waters College, founded in 1866, is Jacksonville's oldest institution of higher education, as well as Florida's oldest

historically black college Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern U ...

Jacksonville University Jacksonville University (JU) is a private university in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Located in the city's Arlington (Jacksonville), Arlington district, the school was founded in 1934 as a two-year college and was known as Jacksonvill ...

(JU), established in 1934, is a private, four-year institution located along the

St. Johns River The St. Johns River () is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and is the most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders 12 counties. The drop in elevation from River s ...

with over 3,500 students.

Flagler College Flagler College is a private university, private liberal arts college in St. Augustine, Florida. The school was founded in 1968 and offers 37 undergraduate majors and two master's programs. It also had a Flagler College – Tallahassee Campus, ...

is a liberal arts college located in St. Augustine. Noted for its campus, which includes

Henry Flagler Henry Morrison Flagler (January 2, 1830 – May 20, 1913) was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil, which was first based in Ohio. He was also a key figure in the development of the Atlantic coast of Florida and founder ...

's former Ponce de León Hotel, it is currently included in The Princeton Review's ''Best 366 Colleges'' Rankings.

Public schools

The public school

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

for Greater Jacksonville are all managed by school boards, with each county having its own board. The Duval County School Board is the largest in the area and the 22nd largest in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

with over 155,000 students. In 2010, it was home to two of the top 20 high schools in the country, Stanton College Preparatory School and Paxon School for Advanced Studies.Mathews, Jay
America's Best High Schools: The List
''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'' magazine, June 13, 2010. Retrieved April 28, 2011. The St. Johns County School District, Clay County School District, Nassau County School District, and Baker County School District manage the public schools in their respective counties.

Transportation

Airports

Greater Jacksonville is served by one major airport – Jacksonville International Airport, which handled approximately 7.2 million passengers in 2019. The airport has three concourses with only two being operational. Concourse B was demolished in 2009 due to a significant decrease in passengers and flights. It is scheduled to be rebuilt when traffic increases at the airport, which was projected to happen in 2013. The airport has gone through many changes over the recent years. Both Concourse A and Concourse C were both rebuilt with ten gates each and moving walkways. Future plans call for expanding the newly built concourses by 2020 and possibly adding a people mover system to the airport and connecting the airport with the onsite Clarion Hotel via a moving walkway.

Seaports

The Port of Jacksonville is located in Duval County on the

and is operated by Jacksonville Port Authority, branded as JAXPORT. Over 100 countries import and export goods through the port. JAXPORT owns three cargo facilities: the Blount Island Marine Terminal, the Talleyrand Marine Terminal and the Dames Point Marine Terminal. The Port of Jacksonville imports the second largest amount of automobiles on the east coast. The port authority also operates a cruise terminal. Opened in 2003 as a "temporary" terminal, cruise ships have set sail from the 63,000-square foot facility ever since. Current cruises from Jacksonville visit the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

on four- or five-day voyages aboard the ''

Carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

Elation''.

Public transportation

Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) is the

public transit Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of wh ...

agency serving the Jacksonville area with

bus service Public transport bus services are generally based on regular operation of transit buses along a route calling at agreed bus stops according to a published public transport timetable. History of buses Origins While there are indications o ...

, trolleys,

paratransit Paratransit (also community transport in the United Kingdom, or intermediate public transport) is a type of public transport service that supplements fixed-route mass transit by providing individualized rides without fixed routes or timetables. P ...

, and a

people mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small-scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks ...

. The people mover, known as the JTA Skyway, is located in downtown Jacksonville, and operates 8 stations along a track. Bus service as well as paratransit service is provided around Duval County and partially in Clay County. JTA operates three trolley lines in three different neighborhoods: Downtown, Riverside, and Jacksonville Beach. The entire JTA system has a daily ridership of over 42,000.

Roadways

The Jacksonville metropolitan area is served by four

interstate highways The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National H ...

operated by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

runs north to south, starting in Nassau County and leaving in St. Johns County.

I-10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the Interstate Highway System of the United States. It is the fourth-longest Interstate in the country at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. It was part of the originall ...

runs west to east, terminating in downtown Jacksonville at I-95. This intersection is the busiest in the area, with more than 200,000 vehicles traveling it each day.Hannan, Larry
"Jacksonville’s scrambled I-10/I-95 intersection transforming traffic until 2011"
Florida Times-Union, June 7, 2010

I-295 Interstate 295 is the designation for the following eight Interstate Highways in the United States, all of which are related to I-95: *Interstate 295 (Delaware–Pennsylvania), a bypass of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania * Interstate 295 (Florida), a be ...

serves as a beltway routing around the city and connects to I-10 and I-95 while serving all areas of Jacksonville. I-795 is a future expressway that will connect the southeastern section of I-295 with I-95. Three other expressways also serve the area and are maintained by

FDOT The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is a decentralized agency charged with the establishment, maintenance, and regulation of public transportation in the U.S. state of Florida. The department was formed in 1969. It absorbed the power ...

. Arlington Expressway (FL SR 115) connects downtown Jacksonville with the Arlington neighborhood via the

Mathews Bridge The Mathews Bridge is a cantilever bridge in Jacksonville, Florida, which spans the St. Johns River. Constructed in 1953, the bridge brings traffic along the Arlington Expressway between downtown Jacksonville and the Arlington neighborhood. It ...

and travels eastward to Atlantic Beach. The Commodore Point Expressway connects downtown Jacksonville with the Southside at Beach Boulevard (US 90), which continues eastward to Jacksonville Beach. Butler Bouleveard (SR 202) begins in southeast Jacksonville at Philips Highway (

US 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway System, United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort ...

) and ends in southern Jacksonville Beach at 3rd Street South ( SR A1A). The road has become one of the busiest roads in the metro area.

Interstates

Florida State Road 9B

U.S. Routes

U.S. Route 1 Alternate (Jacksonville, Florida) ** Business plate

U.S. Route 1 Business (St. Augustine, Florida) * US 17

US 17 *

US 23 U.S. Route 23 or U.S. Highway 23 (US 23) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway between Jacksonville, Florida, and Mackinaw City, Michigan. It is an original 1926 route which originally reached only as far south a ...

US 90 U.S. Route 90 or U.S. Highway 90 (US 90) is an east–west major United States highway in the Southern United States. Despite the "0" in its route number, US 90 never was a full coast-to-coast route. It generally travels near Int ...

U.S. Route 90 Alternate (Jacksonville, Florida) * US 301