The Jacksonville Metropolitan Area, also called the First Coast, Metro Jacksonville, or Northeast Florida, is the

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually ...

centered on the principal city of

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which th ...

and including the First Coast of

North Florida North Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida comprising the northernmost part of the state. Along with South Florida and Central Florida, it is one of Florida's three most common "directional" regions. It includes Jacksonville and near ...

. According to the

2020 United States Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to off ...

, the total population was 1,605,848. The Jacksonville–St. Marys–Palatka, FL–GA Combined Statistical Area (CSA) had a population of 1,733,937 in 2020 and was the 34th largest CSA in the United States. The Jacksonville metropolitan area is the 40th largest in the country and the fourth largest in the State of Florida, behind the

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough C ...

, and

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

metropolitan areas.

Definitions

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

The Jacksonville

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

(MSA) is an area designated by the U.S.

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

used for statistical purposes by the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

and other government agencies. The metropolitan statistical area had a total population of approximately 1,605,848 as of 2020 and is the 39th largest in the United States and the fourth largest in the state of Florida. The OMB defines the Jacksonville MSA as consisting of five

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

. The components of the metropolitan area with their estimated 2020 populations are listed below: *Jacksonville metropolitan statistical area (1,605,848) ** Duval County, Florida (995,567) ** St. Johns County, Florida (273,425) **

Clay County Clay County is the name of 18 counties in the United States. Most are named for Henry Clay, U.S. Senator and statesman: * Clay County, Alabama * Clay County, Arkansas (named for John Clayton, and originally named Clayton County) * Clay County, Flo ...

, Florida (218,245) ** Nassau County, Florida (90,352) ** Baker County, Florida (28,259)

Combined Statistical Area (CSA)

The OMB also defines a slightly larger region as a

Combined Statistical Area Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan statistical area, metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) across the 50 US states and ...

(CSA). In 2012 the OMB also defined the Jacksonville–St. Marys–Palatka, FL–GA Combined Statistical Area, which included metropolitan Jacksonville as well as the Palatka, Florida and St. Marys, Georgia Micropolitan Statistical Areas (comprising

Putnam County, Florida Putnam County is a county located in the northern part of the state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 73,321. Its county seat is Palatka. Putnam County comprises the Palatka, FL Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is inc ...

and

Camden County, Georgia Camden County is a county located in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 Census, the population was 50,513. Its county seat is Woodbine, and the largest city is St. Marys. It is one of the original cou ...

). The CSA had a population of 1,733,937 in 2020 and was the 34th largest CSA. The components of the CSA with their estimated 2020 populations are listed below: *Jacksonville, FL Metropolitan Area (1,733,937) **Palatka, FL Micropolitan area (73,464) *** Putnam County, Florida (73,321) **St. Marys, GA Micropolitan area (53,044) *** Camden County, Georgia (54,768)

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 1,345,596 people, 524,146 households, and 350,483 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 69.9%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 21.8%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.4% Native American, 3.4% Asian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 1.8% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 2.6% from two or more races. 12.9% were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race. The median income for a household in the MSA was $45,143, and the median income for a family was $51,327. Males had a median income of $35,537 versus $25,093 for females.

Education

Higher education

Higher education in the Jacksonville area is offered at many institutions. There are three public institutions in the area.

University of North Florida The University of North Florida (UNF) is a public research university in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Sc ...

(UNF), founded in 1969, is a

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universi ...

in southeastern Jacksonville. It has over 17,000 students and offers a variety of bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs.

Florida State College at Jacksonville Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) is a public college in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System and one of several institutions in that system designated a "state college" as it offers a greater number of four- ...

(FSCJ), is a public state college located in downtown Jacksonville with satellite campuses around the city. St. Johns River State College is a state college with campuses in

St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...

, Orange Park, and Palatka. Many private schools are also located in the area. Edward Waters College, founded in 1866, is Jacksonville's oldest institution of higher education, as well as Florida's oldest

historically black college Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...

Jacksonville University Jacksonville University (JU) is a private university in Jacksonville, Florida. Located in the city's Arlington district, the school was founded in 1934 as a two-year college and was known as Jacksonville Junior College until September 5, 1956, ...

(JU), established in 1934, is a private, four-year institution located along the St. Johns River with over 3,500 students.

Flagler College Flagler College is a private liberal arts college in St. Augustine, Florida. It was founded in 1968 and offers 33 undergraduate majors and one master's program. It also has a campus in Tallahassee. History Founded in 1968, the campus comprises ...

is a liberal arts college located in St. Augustine. Noted for its campus, which includes

Henry Flagler Henry Morrison Flagler (January 2, 1830 – May 20, 1913) was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil, which was first based in Ohio. He was also a key figure in the development of the Atlantic coast of Florida and founder ...

's former

Ponce de León Hotel The Ponce de Leon Hotel, also known as The Ponce, was an exclusive luxury hotel in St. Augustine, Florida, built by millionaire developer and Standard Oil co-founder Henry M. Flagler and completed in 1888. The hotel was designed in the Spanish ...

, it is currently included in The Princeton Review's ''Best 366 Colleges'' Rankings.

Public schools

The public school

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

for Greater Jacksonville are all managed by school boards, with each county having its own board. The Duval County School Board is the largest in the area and the 22nd largest in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

with over 155,000 students. In 2010, it was home to two of the top 20 high schools in the country,

Stanton College Preparatory School Stanton College Preparatory School is a preparatory high school in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Stanton College Preparatory School is a highly selective school that offers both the Advanced Placement and the International Baccalaureate. ...

and

Paxon School for Advanced Studies Paxon School for Advanced Studies (PSAS) is one of four International Baccalaureate senior high schools (the others being Stanton College Preparatory School, Wolfson High School, and Terry Parker High School) in Duval County, Florida. Accordi ...

.Mathews, Jay
America's Best High Schools: The List
''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' magazine, June 13, 2010. Retrieved April 28, 2011. The

St. Johns County School District St. Johns County School District (SJCSD) is the public school district for St. Johns County, Florida. It is the sole school district in the county. History *1866 – St. Joseph Academy was founded and is the oldest Catholic high school in Flo ...

, Clay County School District, Nassau County School District, and Baker County School District manage the public schools in their respective counties.

Transportation

Airports

Greater Jacksonville is served by one major airport –

Jacksonville International Airport Jacksonville International Airport is a civil-military public airport 13 miles (21 km) north of Downtown Jacksonville, in Duval County, Florida. It is owned and operated by the Jacksonville Aviation Authority. History Construction st ...

, which handled approximately 7.2 million passengers in 2019. The airport has three concourses with only two being operational. Concourse B was demolished in 2009 due to a significant decrease in passengers and flights. It is scheduled to be rebuilt when traffic increases at the airport, which was projected to happen in 2013. The airport has gone through many changes over the recent years. Both Concourse A and Concourse C were both rebuilt with ten gates each and moving walkways. Future plans call for expanding the newly built concourses by 2020 and possibly adding a people mover system to the airport, and connecting the airport with the onsite Clarion Hotel via a moving walkway.

Seaports

The Port of Jacksonville is located in Duval County on the St. Johns River and is operated by

Jacksonville Port Authority The Jacksonville Port Authority (JPA) also known by its brand name, JAXPORT, is the independent government agency in Jacksonville, Florida, that owns and operates much of the seaport system at the Port of Jacksonville. History The Jacksonville Po ...

, branded as JAXPORT. Over 100 countries import and export goods through the port. JAXPORT owns three cargo facilities: the Blount Island Marine Terminal, the Talleyrand Marine Terminal and the Dames Point Marine Terminal. The Port of Jacksonville imports the second largest amount of automobiles on the east coast. The port authority also operates a

cruise terminal A passenger terminal is a structure in a port which services passengers boarding and leaving water vessels such as ferries, cruise ships and ocean liners. Depending on the types of vessels serviced by the terminal, it may be named (for example) ...

. Opened in 2003 as a "temporary" terminal, cruise ships have set sail from the 63,000-square foot facility ever since. Current cruises from Jacksonville visit the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...

on four- or five-day voyages aboard the ''

Carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival t ...

Elation''.

Public transportation

Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) is the

public transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...

agency serving the Jacksonville area with

bus service Public transport bus services are generally based on regular operation of transit buses along a route calling at agreed bus stops according to a published public transport timetable. History of buses Origins While there are indications ...

, trolleys,

paratransit Paratransit is the term used in North America, also known by other names such as community transport ( UK) for transportation services that supplement fixed-route mass transit by providing individualized rides without fixed routes or timetables. ...

, and a

people mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks. ...

. The people mover, known as the JTA Skyway, is located in downtown Jacksonville, and operates 8 stations along a track. Bus service as well as paratransit service is provided around Duval County and partially in Clay County. JTA operates three trolley lines in three different neighborhoods: Downtown, Riverside, and Jacksonville Beach. The entire JTA system has a daily ridership of over 42,000.

Roadways

The Jacksonville metropolitan area is served by four

interstate highways The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

operated by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...

runs north to south, starting in Nassau County and leaving in St. Johns County.

I-10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally p ...

runs west to east, terminating in downtown Jacksonville at I-95. This intersection is the busiest in the area, with more than 200,000 vehicles traveling it each day.Hannan, Larry
"Jacksonville’s scrambled I-10/I-95 intersection transforming traffic until 2011"
Florida Times-Union, June 7, 2010

I-295 Interstate 295 is the designation for several Interstate Highways in the United States: *Interstate 295 (Delaware–Pennsylvania), a bypass of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania * Interstate 295 (Florida), a beltway around central Jacksonville * Interstate ...

serves as a beltway routing around the city and connects to I-10 and I-95 while serving all areas of Jacksonville. I-795 is a future expressway that will connect the southeastern section of I-295 with I-95. Three other expressways also serve the area and are maintained by

FDOT The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is a decentralized agency charged with the establishment, maintenance, and regulation of public transportation in the state of Florida. The department was formed in 1969. It absorbed the powers of t ...

. Arlington Expressway (FL SR 115) connects downtown Jacksonville with the Arlington neighborhood via the Matthews Bridge and travels eastward to

Atlantic Beach Atlantic Beach is the name of some places in the United States: *Atlantic Beach, Florida, a city *Atlantic Beach, New York, a village *Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, a town *Atlantic Beach, South Carolina Atlantic Beach is a town in Horry County ...

. The Commodore Point Expressway connects downtown Jacksonville with the Southside at Beach Boulevard (US 90), which continues eastward to

Jacksonville Beach Jacksonville Beach is a coastal resort city in Duval County, Florida, United States. It was incorporated on May 22, 1907, as Pablo Beach, and would later change its name to Jacksonville Beach in 1925. The city is part of group of communities coll ...

. Butler Bouleveard (SR 202) begins in southeast Jacksonville at Philips Highway ( US 1) and ends in southern Jacksonville Beach at 3rd Street South ( SR A1A). The road has become the one of the busiest roads in the metro area.

Interstates

Florida State Road 9B State Road 9B (SR 9B) is a state highway on the south side of Jacksonville, Florida. It is a freeway for its entire length. Its southern terminus is at County Road 2209 (CR 2209) in St. Johns County. Its northern termin ...

U.S. Routes

US 1 **

U.S. Route 1 Alternate (Jacksonville, Florida) ** Business plate

U.S. Route 1 Business (St. Augustine, Florida) Several special routes of U.S. Route 1 exist, from Florida to Maine. In order from south to north, separated by type, these special routes are as follows. Alternate routes Jacksonville alternate route U.S. Highway 1 Alternate is an alternate ...