Polk is a county in Central Florida with a population of approximately 736,229. The largest city is Lakeland. Countywide, households have a median income of $60,901.
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A gap is the shortage of apartment homes based on current inventory and future construction. For the purposes of the data presented, housing supply gaps are broken down by income levels—based on how much those income groups can afford to pay for housing using HUD’s definition of household affordability. Read our full methodology here.
Currently there is a shortage of 4,489 apartments in Polk County regardless of income level. However, the overall shortage is not necessarily indicative of the inventory available to renters at lower income levels. The shortage is often larger for lower-income households. For households earning below $35,000 annually, the shortage is 12,843 units.
A negative gap indicates that there is more housing supply affordable to a given income bracket than renters in that income bracket. This is most common for higher income households, whose housing need could be satisfied with an affordable unit as easily as a higher-rent unit. A negative gap does not necessarily indicate a healthy housing environment, as higher-income earners may be occupying units that would otherwise serve as more affordable, workforce housing.
A future housing gap examines changes in population by income group based on state projections for 2030, as well as changes in supply based on average long-term production and loss of units through redevelopment and increases in price.
By 2030, estimates suggest that there will be a 19,794-unit gap for all households, and a shortage of 21,929 for households earning below $35,000 annually.
93% of all land used for homes in Polk County is currently single-family, while only 7% of residential land use supports apartment homes.
27.5% of Polk County households earn less than $35,000 per year, above the state average of 24.9%. 25.2% of households earn more than $100,000, compared with 32.3% of total Florida households.
30% of Polk County residents rent their homes, compared with 33% statewide.