Tavares, Florida

Area Profile

20,463 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Tavares, in Lake County.

55out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 35% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
Opportunity3,163rd of 4,199 cities measured44
Schools3,096th of 4,162 cities measured30
GrowthTop 19% of 4,224 cities measured67
Housing affordability3,167th of 4,218 cities measured53
ClimateTop 14% of 4,225 cities measured81
Physical resilience2,471st of 4,226 cities measured49
Access2,958th of 4,226 cities measured86
Economic stability2,501st of 4,226 cities measured53
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 5.0% and the Opportunity signal places Tavares in the bottom 25%. The unemployment rate is published for Lake County, FL, which contains Tavares, rather than for Tavares alone.

In the public schools here, 55% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 18.0 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 215 units authorized over the past twelve months, 20% below the prior year.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
20,463
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$58,886
Bottom 37% nationally
Density
1,658/sq mi
12.3 sq mi of land
Median age
53.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Florida
Nearest major airport
SFB
32 mi · Orlando Sanford Intl
Median home value
$254,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Lake County, FL, which contains Tavares, is 5.0% — higher than in all but 25% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Lake County, FL, which contains Tavares, fell 0.5% over the past year, to 187,767 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsLake County, FL’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$80,88862nd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftLake County, FL’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$59,47723rd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$11,2852024 ACS 5-Year$58,886Bottom 37%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$6,6682024 ACS 5-Year$38,491Top 36%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year8.8%Top 42%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±3.5 min2024 ACS 5-Year31.3 minBottom 29%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year25.9%Top 38%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±8%2024 ACS 5-Year74.5%41st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentLake County, FL’s figureJuly 2026187,767Top 34%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Lake County, FL’s figureJuly 2026+0.3%Top 41%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Lake County, FL’s figureJuly 2026−0.5%Top 44%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceLake County, FL’s figureJuly 2026197,72466th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year72.5%Bottom 33%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageOrlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$61,890Bottom 21%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageOrlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$46,630Bottom 13%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Lake County, FL’s figureJuly 2026+0.7%Bottom 9%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateLake County, FL’s figureJuly 20265.0%Bottom 25%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year8.8%55th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202459k49k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $58,886 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons49,970$32,290
Waiters and Waitresses36,820$35,410
Customer Service Representatives35,690$40,530
Fast Food and Counter Workers34,830$28,620
Registered Nurses30,150$83,550
Cashiers29,340$31,330

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Lake County, FL, which contains this city.

55% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 48% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 18.0 students for every full-time teacher across 4 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
7
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
18.0
across 4 of them
Math proficiency
55.3%
Bottom 39% in Florida
Reading proficiency
47.8%
Bottom 21% in Florida
All 7 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Tavares High SchoolLAKE1,45820.847%44%
Pinecrest Academy Tavares · charterLAKE97219.4——
Tavares Middle SchoolLAKE93315.861%49%
Tavares Elementary SchoolLAKE87015.563%53%
Nonschool Exceptional EducationLAKE18———
Non School PKLAKE5———
Lake County Acer ProgramLAKE5———

45.1% 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.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 2% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 101.6, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL Metro Area is up 45% over five years, and up 0.8% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $2,118 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.83% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,520, close to the $1,496 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,520 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $60,800 a year, about 103% of the median household income here of $58,886.

The typical renter household here spends 32% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,496 a month.

A median home at $254,500 costs 4.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $58,666, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
101.6

Prices here run about 2% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
32.3%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,520
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,496
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$254,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Tavares’s median household income of $58,886, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL Metro Area’s figure2023101.6Top 48%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+0.8%15th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+45.4%59th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+120.6%88th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±12024 ACS 5-Year4.3Bottom 14%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year76.8%52nd percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4992024 ACS 5-Year10,23394th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,340Top 46%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,920Top 39%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,520Top 42%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$2232024 ACS 5-Year$1,496Bottom 20%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$24,6662024 ACS 5-Year$254,50066th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2312024 ACS 5-Year$2,11858th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$12,3942024 ACS 5-Year$58,666Bottom 21%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.12%2024 ACS 5-Year0.83%40th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year32.3%Bottom 30%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2832024 ACS 5-Year75998th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year7.4%85th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year3.1%27th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3202024 ACS 5-Year1,07995th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

67/ 100
Top 19% of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was broadly flat, in a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 16% since 2020, reaching 22,007 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 215 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Lake County, which contains Tavares, gained about 4.0% 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 $80,888, above the $59,477 of households that moved out.

At 10.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
215
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
10.5
Top 11% nationally
Year over year
−20%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202422k19k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+4.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
38%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$80,888
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$59,477
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Orange County, FL 8,287 people · 24% of arrivals
  2. Seminole County, FL 1,667 people · 4.7% of arrivals
  3. Osceola County, FL 1,572 people · 4.5% of arrivals
  4. Polk County, FL 1,569 people · 4.5% of arrivals
  5. Sumter County, FL 1,329 people · 3.8% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Orange County, FL 3,559 people · 16% of departures
  2. Marion County, FL 1,723 people · 7.7% of departures
  3. Polk County, FL 1,537 people · 6.8% of departures
  4. Sumter County, FL 1,333 people · 5.9% of departures
  5. Osceola County, FL 859 people · 3.8% of departures

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 Lake County, FL. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202020212022202320242025334198
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−29%).

Weather & climate

8 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 91°F and January a low of 49°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 43.8 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 36, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station LEESBURG MUNI AP, 5.0 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND7.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year502024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals43.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals49°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals81991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year362024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals24°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
36
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
50
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

49 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hurricane and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 45% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Strong windElevated
LightningModerate
TornadoModerate
WildfireModerate
HurricaneElevated
LandslideModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: inland flooding, heat wave, earthquake, hail, coastal flooding, drought, winter weather, tsunami, volcanic activity, ice storm, avalanche.

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.

Violent crime
64
per 100,000 residents · 2024 calendar year
Property crime
243
per 100,000 residents · 2024 calendar year

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

Tavares's police department reported 64 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, lower than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 243.

Lake County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.3 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 15.1 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 15.3 per 100,000 residents in Lake County.

Homicide
2.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
15.1
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
15.3
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
19.1
per 100,000 residents

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 Tavares’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 Tavares (Lake County) rather than Tavares itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

7 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Orlando Sanford Intl at 32 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year86.7%Bottom 37%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle32 miBottom 26%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle7Top 13%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year8.5%Bottom 45%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Orlando Sanford IntlSFB32 mi11,002 ft
Orlando IntlMCO36 mi10,000 ft
Lakeland Linder IntlLAL56 mi8,500 ft

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.

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Area Score
55
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Other cities in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
OrlandoOrange County319,75856Orlando vs Tavares
AlafayaOrange County92,44962Alafaya vs Tavares
KissimmeeOsceola County81,47944Kissimmee vs Tavares
Pine HillsOrange County80,10547
PoincianaOsceola County75,06845
Horizon WestOrange County67,41661
St. CloudOsceola County65,13053
Four CornersOsceola County65,04851
SanfordSeminole County63,73057
ApopkaOrange County58,23257
OcoeeOrange County49,03356
Winter GardenOrange County47,87259

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Tavares side by side with a similar place.

Tavares vs Fort Campbell NorthTavares vs Altamonte Springs

Moving to Tavares from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2024 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Tavares

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Tavares with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Tavares closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
3277825,042$63,472$266,500—