Hernando County vs Santa Rosa County

A side-by-side comparison of Hernando County and Santa Rosa County: population, income, housing, and more.

Hernando County and Santa Rosa County are counties in Florida. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Hernando County has the higher population (201,512 vs 193,719 in Santa Rosa County). Santa Rosa County has the higher median household income ($88,968 vs $63,193 in Hernando County). Santa Rosa County has the higher median home value ($302,100 vs $240,700 in Hernando County).

Population, income & housing

	Hernando County	Santa Rosa County
Population	201,512	193,719
Median age	48.1 yrs	40.0 yrs
Median household income	$63,193	$88,968
Median home value	$240,700	$302,100
Median gross rent	$1,209	$1,445
Housing units	90,991	78,275
Homeownership rate	81.8%	80.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.4%	31.0%
Unemployment rate	5.8%	4.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Hernando County	Santa Rosa County
Population	186,313 → 201,512 (+8.2%)	174,755 → 193,719 (+10.9%)
Median household income	$48,812 → $63,193 (+29.5%)	$67,949 → $88,968 (+30.9%)
Median home value	$142,500 → $240,700 (+68.9%)	$199,200 → $302,100 (+51.7%)
Median gross rent	$984 → $1,209 (+22.9%)	$1,129 → $1,445 (+28.0%)

Hernando County

Population

186,313201,512

Median household income

$48,812$63,193

Median home value

$142,500$240,700

Median gross rent

$984$1,209

Santa Rosa County

Population

174,755193,719

Median household income

$67,949$88,968

Median home value

$199,200$302,100

Median gross rent

$1,129$1,445

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Hernando County	Santa Rosa County
Under 5	4.3%	5.4%
5 to 17	14.2%	16.6%
18 to 24	6.6%	7.5%
25 to 34	10.8%	13.2%
35 to 44	11.0%	14.0%
45 to 54	12.0%	12.9%
55 to 64	14.6%	14.0%
65 to 74	14.5%	10.4%
75 and over	12.0%	6.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Hernando County	Santa Rosa County
White (non-Hispanic)	73.4%	79.1%
Black or African American	4.7%	5.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.2%
Asian	1.4%	2.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.2%
Some other race	0.8%	0.7%
Two or more races	3.3%	5.8%
Hispanic or Latino	16.1%	6.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Hernando County	Santa Rosa County
No high school diploma	9.9%	7.4%
High school graduate	32.9%	26.3%
Some college or associate's	36.7%	35.3%
Bachelor's degree	13.7%	19.8%
Graduate or professional degree	6.7%	11.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Hernando County	Santa Rosa County
Drove alone	74.4%	77.0%
Carpooled	9.3%	8.4%
Public transit	0.3%	0.0%
Walked	1.2%	1.0%
Bicycle	0.3%	0.2%
Worked from home	12.8%	11.6%
Other means	1.8%	1.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Hernando County	Santa Rosa County
1-unit, detached	75.2%	80.2%
1-unit, attached	2.5%	1.8%
2 to 4 units	2.3%	3.3%
5 to 19 units	2.7%	2.7%
20 or more units	1.6%	3.5%
Mobile home & other	15.8%	8.5%

Poverty & households

	Hernando County	Santa Rosa County
Poverty rate	12.0%	8.4%
Average household size	2.48	2.65
Mean commute (minutes)	30	30
Median year structure built	1990	1997