Cape Coral | Ft. Myers | Lehigh Acres

         North Port | Panama City

The six-county region known today as Southwest Florida has experienced significant changes over the past 100 years.  This section describes the incredible population growth of the Region and the characteristics of that population.  Originally, the Southwest Florida region fell within the boundaries of several larger counties.  From 1840 to 1900, the Southwest Florida Region included only two counties.  Those counties, Hillsborough and Monroe, covered the west coast of Florida from present-day Citrus County, south to the Keys.  Early in the 1900s, the Region included parts of Manatee, DeSoto, Lee, and Monroe Counties.  It was not until 1924 that the current boundaries of the six counties of Southwest Florida (Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry, Lee, and Sarasota) were established.  Today, the Region contains approximately 6,023 square miles of land area.  This is 11.2% of the total land area of the State (53,937 square miles).

Southwest Florida is both a geographical and political area.  The political region was established by Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry, and Lee Counties in 1973.  It assumed its present form after the addition of Sarasota County in 1975.  Designated by the Florida Department of Community Affairs as Region 9, Southwest Florida is bounded by Manatee, DeSoto, Highlands, and Okeechobee Counties to the north; Okeechobee, Palm Beach, Broward, and Dade Counties to the east; and Monroe County to the south.

POPULATION

In 1930, the entire Region had only 40,580 people located primarily in the coastal counties.  The U.S. Census that year was the first to count the population of the Region with its current boundaries.  In 1998, the estimated permanent population passed the 1,000,000 mark.  The peak population during the winter months is not formally counted but is estimated to add about 22% to this total.  Table 1 show's the rapid growth throughout the Region, especially in the coastal counties.

PERMANENT POPULATION AND GROWTH BY COUNTY
COUNTY	1980	1990		2000
	Total	Total	Increase	Total	Increase
Charlotte	58,460	110,975	52,515	141,627	30,652
Collier	85,971	152,099	66,128	251,377	99,278
Glades	5,992	7,591	1,599	10,576	2,985
Hendry	18,599	25,773	7,174	36,210	10,437
Lee	205,266	335,113	129,847	440,888	105,775
Sarasota	202,251	277,776	75,525	325,957	48,181
Region	576,539	909,327	332,788	1,206,635	297,308
Sources: Florida Statistical Abstract, 1981, 1998, Table 1.66; 1990 data from Table DP-1, "
General Population and Housing Characteristics:1990," U.S. Census 2000 data from
Table DP-1,"Profile of General Demographic characteristics:2000," U.S. Census

• Lee County and Southwest Florida sustained tremendous growth in population over a 5 year period (2000-2004), both increasing by 18 percent and sustained substantial growth since then.
• According to the U.S. Census an average of 20,700 people move to Lee County annually, adding an estimated average of 11,400 people to the labor pool.
• Southwest Florida's 18-24 year old population (those available to enter the workforce) is growing about twice as fast as that of Florida and many times faster than that of the U.S.
• Forecast magazine lists Fort Myers-Cape Coral 15th in its "Booming 25" ranking of the 25 fastest growing metro areas.
• The U.S. Census ranks Lee County among the 100 Fastest Growing Counties in the nation.
• Demographics Daily (Bizjournals.com) listed Fort Myers-Cape Coral a 5-star community for job growth, population growth, and small business growth.

The region's portion of both the Florida and U.S. population has grown steadily (see Table 2).  In 1950 less than 0.05% of the U.S. population lived in Southwest Florida.  By 2000, that figure had dramatically increased to 0.4%.  Thus, from 1950 to 2000, the Region's share of the total U.S. population increased over nine times.

The situation is similar for the Region's share of the state's population.  In 1950, slightly more then 2.5% of all Floridians lived in Southwest Florida.  By 2000, this figure had grown to more than 7.5%.  This occurred even while Florida's population growth was surpassing that of the nation as a whole.

TRANSIENT/SEASONAL POPULATION

As a tourist and retirement mecca, Southwest Florida experiences significant seasonal variations in population.  These fluctuations in population can be attributed to three broad groups; part-time residents (usually in the winter), tourists, and seasonal workers (mostly resort employees and farm workers).  It is very difficult to determine the number of people within each group because of mobility and varying lengths of stay.

Winter Residents

Winter residents, sometimes called "snowbirds", are persons who live in other parts of the country, except during the winter.  The busiest period for winter residents is from mid-November to mid-April.  They may own a second home or condominium here or have a long-term rental arrangement.  During the season, winter residents may increase the Region's population by as much as 22%.  Most of this increase occurs in the coastal counties.  This estimate is based on a combination of taxable sales, the number of homes held for seasonal use, and a ratio of seasonal households to total households.

Tourists

Tourists can include business travelers and short-term vacationers.  Business travelers visit throughout the year, often staying only a few days.  Vacationers spend anywhere from a few days to several weeks in the Region.  Peak vacation season is now occurring later than in previous years, peaking in mid-winter to early spring.