Leon County has the highest percentage of children living in single-parent households among Florida’s 37 counties with populations exceeding 95,000, according to 2024 U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data.
Single-parent households can face greater financial pressures because household expenses often must be supported by one parent rather than two. However, the Census figures alone do not establish the income or economic circumstances of individual families.
The findings are particularly relevant to local discussions about poverty, housing affordability, educational outcomes and economic mobility.
The Numbers
The data show that 35.26% of children under age 18 living in households in Leon County reside in single-parent households, placing Leon first among the state’s 37 larger counties.
Duval County ranked second at 33.24%, followed by Escambia County (32.10%), Sumter County (31.52%) and Alachua County (31.09%).
Leon County’s rate was more than two percentage points higher than second-place Duval County and more than six percentage points above Miami-Dade County, which reported 28.87%.
At the other end of the rankings, St. Johns County reported the lowest percentage at 13.36%, followed by Santa Rosa County (16.12%), Martin County (18.68%) and Clay County (19.25%).
The data also reveal that Leon County’s percentage has increased slightly since 2020.
In 2020, 34.82% of Leon County children lived in single-parent households. By 2024, that figure had increased to 35.26%, a rise of 0.44 percentage points.
Leon County ranked ninth among the 37 larger counties in the increase in its single-parent household percentage between 2020 and 2024.
Indian River County experienced the largest increase, rising 4.47 percentage points, followed by St. Lucie County (3.97 points), Hernando County (2.78 points) and Okaloosa County (2.16 points).
For Leon County, the central finding is clear: Its rate is the highest among Florida’s 37 larger counties, and the percentage has increased slightly since 2020.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data, 2020–2024, as compiled in the supplied county comparison spreadsheet. Rankings are limited to counties with 2024 populations exceeding 95,000. The data measure the percentage of children living in single-parent households, rather than the percentage of all households headed by a single parent.
Be the first to leave a comment on this article.