Crawfordville
Start with Crawfordville to understand the established center, nearby services and everyday rhythm within Wakulla County.
Complete Florida county guide
Wakulla
County
Springs, forests, Gulf access and a growing Tallahassee commuter population shape this nature-rich county.
Northwest FloridaPanhandle & Emerald Coast
REGIONPanhandle & Emerald Coast
COMMUNITIES TO START WITHCrawfordville · St. Marks · Panacea
LIFESTYLE SIGNALSNature · Tallahassee commute · Fishing
Start with daily life
What Wakulla County feels like before you choose a neighborhood.
Springs, forests, Gulf access and a growing Tallahassee commuter population shape this nature-rich county.
Use this guide as a first-pass planning tool. On a scouting trip, compare actual commute routes, insurance requirements, medical access, school or training options and the places you would use in an ordinary week—not only the best-known attraction.
The numbers that matter if you are moving
- Population
- 35,387Census estimate
- At the last full count
- 33,7642020 Census
- Median age
- 42.3
- Aged 65 and over
- 16.5%
- Under 18
- 20.7%
- Median household income
- $81,895
- Median home value
- $258,300what owners estimate
- Homeownership
- 81.9%
- People per household
- 2.55
- Average commute
- 32.3 minutes
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, published January 2026, read September 19, 2026. Survey figures are estimates; median home value is what owners estimate their home is worth, not a sale price.
COUNTY LIFESTYLE THEMES
NatureTallahassee commuteFishing
Relocation decision desk
Six checks before you choose a county.
Property cost, flood and wind, schools, healthcare, daily travel and storm readiness.
How to research a Florida county →Communities to compare
Begin with the county’s major places.
These are starting points, not a ranking. Add nearby towns and neighborhoods as you learn your daily route and housing priorities.
St. Marks
Use St. Marks to compare housing patterns, main-road access and the shopping or medical stops used during a normal week.
Panacea
Walk or drive through Panacea at different times of day to judge traffic, neighborhood character and access to outdoor space.
Hospitals in Wakulla County
No licensed hospital inside Wakulla County.
The state's hospital list names none in the county. Its search by address finds the hospitals nearest any home you are considering.
How do I compare hospitals in Florida? →How do I find a doctor who takes Medicare? →Find the hospitals nearest an address ↗
Source: Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, FloridaHealthFinder, Locate a Facility (hospitals), read September 25, 2026.
Evergreen county experiences
10 places that reveal the county.
Use enduring natural, historic and cultural places to understand the area beyond a real-estate showing.
Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park
The spring opening lies 180 feet down, and the average flow is about 400,000 gallons a minute, with peaks measured at 860,000. That is a river coming out of a hole in the ground. Paleo Indians camped at this spring twelve thousand years ago, and the basin has given up the bones of mastodons, giant sloths, giant armadillos and camels.
St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge
Turn off US 98 at Newport onto Lighthouse Road, County Road 59, and drive three miles to the visitor center at 1255 Lighthouse Road. It opens Monday through Friday from eight in the morning until four, and on weekends from ten until five, closed on federal holidays.
San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park
Five flags have flown over this ground. The Spanish put up a wooden stockade here and called it San Marcos de Apalache. Another wooden fort went up around 1753 and a hurricane took it down.
Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory
Jack Rudloe, a writer and naturalist, and Anne Rudloe, a marine biologist, started it in 1963 as a company supplying live marine specimens to scientists. It became a not-for-profit organization in 1980, and their son Cypress Rudloe has been executive director since 2010.
Wakulla River
The whole river is spring-fed, so it runs clear and cold and at a steady level rather than rising and falling with the rain like a blackwater river. It joins the St. Marks about three miles above the Gulf, at the old fort.
Mashes Sands Beach
It is a small place, ringed by salt marsh rather than by condominiums, and it is one of the few spots in Wakulla County where you can drive up and walk straight onto sand. The water off the beach is shallow and warm, which suits small children and does not suit anyone looking for surf.
Shell Point Beach
Shell Point was a private beach for years. In 1995 people in the community petitioned to have it opened, and it passed to the Wakulla County Department of Parks and Recreation, which runs it now with help from state grant money.
Sopchoppy Depot Park and Museum
Sopchoppy is a town of a few hundred people on the edge of the Apalachicola National Forest, and the depot is the reason there is a town. The building has been kept and turned into a small museum of local history, with the park laid out around it for the community to use.
St. Marks Lighthouse
Congress paid for the first tower in 1828 and Winslow Lewis finished it in March 1830. The work was disputed, so Calvin Knowlton rebuilt it in 1831. Erosion forced the whole thing to be moved and rebuilt again in 1842, which is the tower standing today.
Wakulla Springs Lodge
Ball was the financier who ran the DuPont interests in Florida, and he built this place to his own taste. The grand lobby has a hand-painted ceiling and beams of heart cypress. A marble and iron staircase climbs past three heavy marble landings.
Beaches in Wakulla County
Every beach, one clear card.
2BEACH DESTINATIONS
Each card gives the beach, its visit category and its next steps: the practical visit guide, the official site where the beach has one, and directions. Always verify current parking, fees, water quality, lifeguard coverage and posted rules before leaving.
STANDARD PUBLIC BEACH
Not identified here as clothing-optional. This category does not guarantee child safety, calm water or lifeguard coverage.
CLOTHING-OPTIONAL
Nudity is officially permitted in all or part of the destination. Read the current notice before taking children.
NUDITY ADVISORY
Nudity may be encountered in a remote area even without an official clothing-optional designation.
Mashes Sands Beach
Wakulla County, Florida
901 Mashes Sands Road in Panacea, which Wakulla County calls one of its hidden treasures: saltwater marsh, wildlife and a clear view west for the sunset. What is there is limited, and the restroom on site is a mobile one. The boat ramp sits just up the road at 801 Mashes Sands Road and reaches Ochlockonee Bay and the Gulf. The fishing pier has been closed since Hurricane Michael destroyed it; a new one is being built, with completion estimated for March 31, 2027. The beach is open 6 a.m. to midnight, and the pier will keep the same hours once it opens.
Shell Point Beach
Wakulla County, Florida
117 Beaty Taff Drive in Shell Point, open 6 a.m. to midnight. Restrooms, a children's playground, a volleyball court and a kayak launch, with a boat ramp nearby. Pavilions large and small can be reserved through the county. This is a windsurfing beach, and the club here gives free lessons to the public. A food vendor can book concession space for $25. The health department publishes water quality results for this beach.
Official planning desk
Check current public information before making the move.
Florida disaster preparedness mapsOfficial evacuation-zone, route and storm-surge planning maps.
Open official source ↗
Florida school accountability reportsCurrent state school and district accountability information.
Open official source ↗
Florida community health dataCounty-level public health indicators and community reports.
Open official source ↗
Florida housing resourcesState resources for homebuyers, renters and local assistance programs.
Open official source ↗QUESTIONS THAT NAME THIS COUNTY
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