Jacksonville

About Jacksonville

Jacksonville (US: , JAK-sən-vil), colloquially nicknamed Jax, is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city consolidated in 1968. It is the eleventh-most populous U.S. city and the largest city in the Southeast, with a population of 949,611 at the 2020 U.S. census. The Jacksonville metropolitan area, at over 1.76 million residents, is the fourth-largest metropolitan area in Florida and 38th-largest in the United States. City-county consolidation greatly increased Jacksonville's official population and extended its boundaries, placing most of Duval County's population within the new municipal limits; Jacksonville grew to 900 square miles (2,300 square kilometers). It is the largest city by total area, land and water, in the contiguous United States.

Jacksonville straddles the St. Johns River in the First Coast region of northeastern Florida, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) south of the Georgia state line (25 miles or 40 kilometers to the urban core/downtown) and 350 mi (560 km) north of Miami. The Jacksonville Beaches communities lie along the adjacent Atlantic coast. The area was originally inhabited by the Timucua. During the First Spanish rule (1513–1763), several missions were established in the Jacksonville area; the most prominent locally was San Juan del Puerto on present-day Fort George Island, which served the Mocama, a subgroup of the Timucua. In 1564, the French founded the short-lived Fort Caroline near the mouth of the St. Johns River.

During the brief period of British rule (1763–1783), a settlement developed at a narrow point on the river where cattle crossed, known as Wacca Pilatka to the Seminole and "Cow Ford" to the British. Spain regained control of the area in 1783, following Britain's defeat in the American Revolutionary War. In 1822, a year after Spain ceded Florida to the United States under the Adams–Onís Treaty, in exchange for U.S. recognition of Spanish sovereignty in Texas, a platted town was established there and named for Andrew Jackson, the first military governor of the Florida Territory and the seventh president of the United States.

Harbor improvements since the late 19th century have made Jacksonville a major military and civilian deep-water port. Its riverine location facilitates Naval Station Mayport, Naval Air Station Jacksonville, the U.S. Marine Corps Blount Island Command, and the Port of Jacksonville (JAXPORT), Florida's largest seaport by volume. Jacksonville's military bases and the nearby Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay form the third largest military presence in the United States. Significant factors in the local economy include services such as banking, insurance, healthcare and logistics. As with much of Florida, tourism is important to the Jacksonville area—particularly tourism related to golf, the PGA Tour headquarters being located in nearby Ponte Vedra Beach. People from Jacksonville are known as Jacksonvillians and, informally, as Jaxsons or Jaxons, both derived from Jax, the shortened nickname for the city.

Text: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Jacksonville weather: 7-day forecast

Source: National Weather Service (NOAA).

Live webcams in Jacksonville

Webcams: Windy.com

Living in Jacksonville

Median household income

$69,872

Median home value

$293,700

Median rent

$1,465/mo

Median age

36.5

Map of Jacksonville

Tap any street on the map to see it in Street View below. Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Jacksonville Street View

Drag the image to look around and tap the arrows on the ground to move. If it says there is no imagery, tap a nearby street on the map above.

Jacksonville, FL population

Jacksonville had 949,611 residents in the 2020 Census.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Decennial Census.

Jacksonville at a glance

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (Gazetteer, ZCTA), USGS GNIS, Wikidata.

Towns near Jacksonville

• Bellair-Meadowbrook Terrace11.5 mi S
• Orange Park11.7 mi S
• Nassau Village-Ratliff14.9 mi NW
• Lakeside15.2 mi SW
• Oakleaf Plantation15.3 mi SW
• Atlantic Beach15.8 mi E
• Neptune Beach16.1 mi E
• Fleming Island16.5 mi S
• Fruit Cove16.7 mi S
• Jacksonville Beach17.0 mi E
• Palm Valley18.2 mi SE
• Callahan18.8 mi NW

Straight-line distance between town centers.

Frequently asked questions about Jacksonville