DeSoto County

Desoto County is located in South Central Florida, along with Hendry, Glades, Highlands, Okeechobee, and Hardee counties. Desoto's only city and county seat is Arcadia. The U.S. Census Bureau refers to DeSoto County as the Arcadia Micropolitan Statistical Area. Over 34,000 people live here.

The largest industries providing employment are agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting, and mining and education, health and social services. Major private sector employers for DeSoto County are Wal-Mart Distribution Center, Wal-Mart, DeSoto Medical Hospital, Peace River Citrus, and Bethel Farms. Top public sector employers are DeSoto School District, DeSoto County, and DeSoto County Sheriff's Office.

Largely rural, the economy of DeSoto County is primarily driven by agriculture. There are only five counties in the state with more cattle and calves. Cattle in the region is generally raised until they are 400-600 pounds, then sold to ranches in the western part of the nation to finish growing. There are about two head of cattle in DeSoto County for every human.

Citrus production is also a major component of the DeSoto County economy. Shipping over 17 million boxes annually, DeSoto is the fourth-largest citrus producer among Florida counties. 98% of those boxes are oranges. Over 60,000 acres of land are devoted to commercial citrus trees.

Arcadia is home to over 7,500 people. The city?s location on the Peace River makes it a prime spot for canoeing and camping. Technically outside of the city in the neighborhood of Southeast Arcadia lies Arcadia Municipal Airport, a two-runway general aviation facility. The DeSoto Campus of South Florida State College is in Arcadia.

Desoto County Florida Cities

There are 3 cities in Desoto County Florida. These are listed below. Click on a link for details.

Arcadia, Fort Ogden, Nocatee,

DeSoto County has a population of approximately 34,712 people. The population increased -0.4% from 2010 to 2012. This compared to a 2.7% increase for the State of Florida and a 1.7% increase for the country as a whole. DeSoto County is 637.06 square miles and had a population density of 54.7 Persons per square mile in 2010. This compared to 350.6 for Florida and 87.4 for the country.

There are 14,617 housing units in DeSoto County (a housing unit is defined by the US Census Bureau as a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room that is occupied as separate living quarters.) DeSoto County has a 75.6% homeownership rate compared to Florida's rate of 69.0%. DeSoto County's medium household income in 2011 was $36,407, which is lower than the medium income for Florida as a whole: $47,827.

26.1% of the population in DeSoto County lives below the poverty line, compared to 14.7% in Florida and 14.3% nationwide. Additional Information:

• DeSoto County Census Data
• University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research - DeSoto County

DeSoto County Economic Activity

The U.S. Bureau of the Census, Economic , 2007 calculated the total value manufacturing, merchant wholesaler, retail sales and food service sales in DeSoto County. The Census measured activity of large and medium-sized firms during calendar year 2007. It does not include every aspect of the economy but can be used as a measure of economic activity.

At $305 million, DeSoto County's economic activity represents 0.05% of the Florida economy.

DeSoto County Regional Comparisons

DeSoto County is located in South Central Florida. This region is responsible for 0.5% of Florida's economic activity. DeSoto County represents 9.0% of the region's economy.

Desoto Real Estate

There are 11,754 properties in Desoto County. The following table shows a summary of them based on 2013 sales data.

Additional Details:

• Desoto Property Sales History
• Desoto Commercial Sales History
• Desoto Land Sales History