Welcome Live In Polk County

  1. Polk County ranks 7.18% below the Florida state average living cost. According to the 2006 Florida County Retail Price Index, Polk’s index of 92.82 indicates that it is well below the state average living cost of 100.1
     
  2. Polk County is one of the largest and fastest growing counties in the state. According to the latest nationwide data, Florida has the fastest job growth rate (2.8%) and lowest unemployment rate (3.1%) of the ten most populous states in the nation2
     

     
  3. Polk County offers exceptional education opportunities for students of all ages.
    • Polk County Public Schools offers magnet and advanced placement programs, and ranks 7th best in the state of 67 school districts for returning dollars to the classroom.
    • Florida Southern College, in Lakeland, was recognized by U.S. News and World Report as one of “America’s Best Colleges in 2007” and as one of the “Best Southeastern Colleges” by The Princeton Review.
    • According to the Carnegie Foundation, the University of South Florida, which has a Lakeland campus, is ranked as one of the “Top 100 American Research Universities” in the entire nation.
       
  4. With over 32,000 acres of natural preserves, Polk County boasts one of the country's highest concentrations of rare plants and endangered animal life. Nature and wildlife preservations include Tiger Creek Preserve, Saddle Blanket Scrub Preserve, Sunray Preserve, and The Lake Wales Ridge, which consists of Florida’s largest and oldest ancient sand dunes.3
     
  5. Florida is one of only seven states with no state income taxes and one of only nine states with little or no income tax on trusts..
     

     
  6. With 554 natural, freshwater lakes, Polk County has long been recognized as the “Water Ski Capital of the World.”
     
  7. Polk County is the home of the first ever theme attraction, Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven, and is located within a short drive of
    Walt Disney World®, Universal Studios Orlando®, Sea World®, and Busch Gardens®.
     
  8. 8. Polk County is the home of Florida's Natural Growers, an agricultural cooperative of citrus growers who own their own groves in the heart of central Florida. With more than 1,000 members who own more than 50,000 acres, this organization works with local, state, and federal agencies to ensure the integrity of these natural areas.5
     
  9. Many prominent companies are headquartered in Polk County with operations across Florida and surrounding states. The top non-government employers include Publix, Wal-Mart, Lakeland Regional Medical Center, Geico Insurance, State Farm Insurance, and Florida's Natural Growers.
     
  10. Conveniently located about equal distance from the east and west coasts of Florida, and halfway between Georgia and the Southern tip of the Florida peninsula. Polk lies 25 miles east of Tampa and 35 miles southwest of Orlando.

1. Source: 2006 Florida County Retail Price and Wage Indices — distributed by the University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research 11/22/06
2. Source: Agency for Workforce Innovation
3. Source: The Nature Conservancy
4. Source: JP Morgan Private Bank
5. Source: Florida’s Natural Growers

PLEASE NOTE: All information presented is subject to change without notification. Images are for representative purposes only.