Fort Walton Beach, Florida

61% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 55% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 18.1 students for every full-time teacher across 6 public schools, more than in most measured places.

59.9% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Florida’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Population has grown 1% since 2020, reaching 21,188 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 20 units authorized in 2025, against 16 the year before.

Federal tax returns show Okaloosa County, which contains Fort Walton Beach, lost about 0.3% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $72,433, above the $67,800 of households that moved out.

At 1.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

People moving in and out

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Okaloosa County, FL. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, inland flooding and tornado, with hurricane alone responsible for 65% of it. Inland flooding and tornado are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Fort Walton Beach's police department reported 532 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,670.

Okaloosa County has a modeled homicide rate of about 4.4 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 17.9 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 21.5 per 100,000 residents in Okaloosa County.

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Fort Walton Beach’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Fort Walton Beach (Okaloosa County) rather than Fort Walton Beach itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Eglin AFB/Destin-Ft Walton Beach at 7 miles.

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.