Okeechobee County

Okeechobee County, Florida — key demographics

Population size

• 2020 Census: 39,644
• 2023 estimate: ~41,000–42,000 (growth since 2020)

Age

• Median age: ~42
• Under 18: ~22%
• 65 and over: ~23–24%

Gender

• Female: ~48–49%
• Male: ~51–52%

Racial/ethnic composition

• Hispanic or Latino (any race): ~30%
• White alone, not Hispanic: ~56–57%
• Black or African American alone: ~7–8%
• American Indian/Alaska Native alone: ~1–2%
• Asian alone: ~1%
• Two or more races: ~3%

Household data

• Households: ~14,000–14,500
• Average household size: ~2.7–2.8 persons
• Family households: ~65–70% of households
• Owner-occupied housing rate: ~78–80%
• Foreign-born: ~15–16%
• Language other than English spoken at home: ~30–32%

Insights

• Older age structure than the U.S. overall, with roughly one in four residents 65+
• Large Hispanic/Latino community (~30%) driving multilingual households and larger average household size
• High owner-occupancy typical of rural Florida counties

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (2020 Decennial Census; 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-year estimates; Census QuickFacts, 2023 population estimate)

Okeechobee County, FL snapshot (est. 2025)

• Population and density: 41,000 residents across ~770 sq mi of land (53 people/sq mi), markedly rural versus Florida’s statewide ~410/sq mi.
• Estimated email users: ~27,000 residents (≈65–70% of total population), derived from local adult share, rural internet adoption, and national email-usage rates.
• Age profile of adult email users (share of users):
  • 18–34: ~27%
  • 35–54: ~34%
  • 55–64: ~17%
  • 65+: ~23% Older cohorts participate strongly but slightly below prime-working-age adults.
• Gender split among email users: roughly even, mirroring the county’s near 50/50 population (≈13.8k women, ≈13.2k men).
• Digital access and trends:
  • Broadband subscription: roughly three-quarters of households have a fixed broadband plan; computer/smartphone access is near 9 in 10 households.
  • Mobile-only internet households: ~12–15%, supporting heavy smartphone-based email.
  • Trend: steady gains in broadband take-up (~1–2 percentage points per year) and 5G coverage along primary corridors; fixed wireless and satellite fill gaps outside the city of Okeechobee. Insights: Low population density raises last‑mile costs, concentrating fiber and faster cable service in the county seat and along major roads, while outlying agricultural areas rely more on mobile, fixed wireless, and satellite for email access.

Summary: Mobile phone usage in Okeechobee County, Florida

Headline takeaways

• Okeechobee is a high-mobile, lower-capacity market: usage rates are similar to Florida overall, but with more prepaid lines, more Android devices, heavier mobile-only home internet reliance, and more variability in performance outside the city of Okeechobee.
• Coverage is broad on 4G/low-band 5G, but mid-band/capacity 5G is sparse outside the urban core and major corridors, leading to lower typical speeds than state medians.
• Demographics (lower median income, higher share of Hispanic residents, agricultural workforce, seasonal labor) shape plan choice, language preferences, and app use in ways that differ from statewide patterns.

Population base

• Population anchors: 39,644 (2020 Census); ~41,000–42,000 (2023–2024 ACS/estimates).
• Land area: ~770 square miles of land (large, sparsely populated), with significant water area due to Lake Okeechobee.

User estimates (people with an active mobile phone)

• Total mobile users: approximately 33,000–36,000 residents (about 80–86% of the total population).
• Smartphone users: approximately 28,000–31,000 (around 70–75% of the total population; roughly 84–86% of adults).
• Mobile-only home internet households: roughly 18–25% of households in Okeechobee rely primarily on cellular data for home connectivity, several points higher than Florida’s typical ~12–15%, reflecting limited or less affordable wireline options in outlying tracts.

How these estimates were derived

• Adults make up roughly 76–80% of residents. Rural adult smartphone adoption generally runs 4–8 points below statewide averages (Pew Research, FCC/ACS crosswalks). Applying an 84–86% adult smartphone rate, plus limited basic-phone ownership and teen adoption (~13–17 year-olds have very high mobile uptake), yields the totals above.

Demographic breakdown and usage patterns (contrasts with Florida)

• Income and plan choice:
  • Okeechobee median household income is materially below Florida’s statewide median, which correlates with:
    • Higher prepaid share: about 35–40% of lines (vs ~20–25% statewide).
    • Greater sensitivity to handset cost; longer device replacement cycles; higher participation in Lifeline and similar low-income plans (ACP wind-down in 2024 likely pushed some fixed-broadband households to mobile-only).
• Device ecosystem:
  • Android share estimated at 65–70% of smartphones (vs ~55–60% statewide), tied to income and prepaid prevalence.
  • iPhone share correspondingly lower than state average.
• Age:
  • Seniors (65+) are a sizable segment; smartphone ownership among seniors locally is lower than the Florida average, but rising due to telehealth and messaging with family.
  • Teens exhibit very high adoption and heavier use of video/social apps; however, overall county data usage per line trends lower than metro Florida because of capacity constraints and plan choices.
• Ethnicity and language:
  • Hispanic/Latino residents are a larger share than the Florida average. This maps to notable Spanish UI settings, high WhatsApp and Facebook usage, and a measurable presence of international calling add-ons/remittances apps.
• Work patterns:
  • Agriculture, ranching, logistics, and construction drive daytime mobility across rural tracts, increasing reliance on voice/SMS and PTT-style coordination and exposing users to coverage/capacity gaps more than in metro Florida.

Digital infrastructure and coverage (what’s on the ground)

• Radio access
  • All three national operators (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile) provide countywide 4G LTE coverage. Low-band 5G covers the city of Okeechobee and major routes (US-441, SR-70, SR-710), with coverage thinning across interior ranchlands and around the lake’s less-populated shoreline.
  • Capacity (mid-band 5G/LTE carrier aggregation) is concentrated in and near Okeechobee city and along primary corridors; outside those areas, cells are larger and more sparsely placed, lowering peak and median speeds and raising latency compared with state urban/suburban norms.
• Backhaul
  • A mix of fiber-fed macro sites near town and microwave-fed sites in rural tracts; fiber backhaul is discontinuous outside the core, constraining upgrade paths relative to Florida metros.
• Redundancy and resiliency
  • Sites on major corridors generally have generator backup; extended outages after hurricanes or lake-effect storms are more common inland than in metro areas with denser fiber rings.
• Fixed alternatives that shape mobile reliance
  • Cable/fiber availability is concentrated in Okeechobee city and select subdivisions; large rural blocks have only legacy copper, fixed wireless, or satellite. T-Mobile/Verizon 5G home internet is available in and around town but patchy farther out. This pushes a higher share of households to rely on mobile phones as primary internet.

Performance and usage traits (vs state-level)

• Speeds and consistency: Typical rural LTE/low-band 5G speeds run materially below state medians seen in metros; performance is more variable by time of day and congestion. Video is often throttled/managed on prepaid and home-internet cellular plans, reinforcing Wi‑Fi offload behavior when available.
• Seasonal load: Seasonal agricultural labor and winter visitors produce noticeable traffic spikes, particularly on corridor-adjacent sectors and in town, more so than in most Florida metros where load is spread across denser networks.
• Emergency communications: High opt-in and reliance on WEA alerts and radio during storms; residents often keep car chargers and power banks due to longer power restoration times in rural tracts.

How Okeechobee differs most from Florida overall

• Higher prepaid share, lower iPhone share, and longer device replacement cycles.
• Higher proportion of mobile-only home internet users.
• More Android and Spanish-language usage tied to income and Hispanic share.
• Adequate coverage breadth but lower capacity depth; larger cells and more microwave backhaul yield lower typical speeds and less consistent 5G capacity than metro Florida.
• Greater reliance on mobile for work coordination across rural job sites and for telehealth when fixed broadband is limited.

Key figures at a glance

• Population: ~41,000–42,000 (39,644 in 2020 Census).
• Mobile users: ~33,000–36,000 residents.
• Smartphone users: ~28,000–31,000 residents.
• Prepaid share: ~35–40% of lines (higher than state).
• Android share: ~65–70% of smartphones (higher than state).
• Mobile-only home internet households: ~18–25% (higher than state).

Sources and estimation basis

• US Census/ACS (population/demographics), FCC Broadband Data Collection and mobile coverage filings (infrastructure and availability), Pew Research Center (smartphone adoption by geography and age), and industry adoption patterns for rural Florida. Figures for users, platform mix, prepaid share, and mobile-only households are county-specific estimates derived by applying these sources to Okeechobee’s demographic and infrastructure profile.

Okeechobee County, FL — social media usage snapshot (2025)

Key user stats (modeled for Okeechobee using current U.S. rural benchmarks)

• Adults using at least one social platform: ≈80% of adults
• Teen adoption (13–17): ≈95% use at least one platform

Most‑used platforms (adults; share of adults who use each platform)

• YouTube: ~83%
• Facebook: ~68%
• Instagram: ~47%
• Pinterest: ~35%
• TikTok: ~33%
• Snapchat: ~30%
• WhatsApp: ~29%
• X (Twitter): ~22%
• Reddit: ~22%

Teens (13–17) — platform use

• YouTube: ~93%
• TikTok: ~67%
• Snapchat: ~60%
• Instagram: ~59%
• Facebook: ~33%

Age profile and gender breakdown (how usage skews)

• 50+ skew: Facebook and YouTube dominate; limited TikTok/Instagram use.
• 30–49: Heavy Facebook and YouTube; strong Instagram; moderate TikTok.
• 18–29: Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat lead; Facebook secondary.
• 13–17: YouTube is near‑universal; TikTok and Snapchat are core daily apps.
• Gender: Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest lean female; YouTube, Reddit, and X lean male. Overall social user base is roughly balanced by gender.

Behavioral trends observed in rural Florida counties and mirrored locally

• Facebook is the community hub: Groups for schools, churches, agriculture, and neighborhood updates; Marketplace is a top buy/sell channel.
• YouTube is the default for how‑to and local-interest video (home, auto, outdoor, agriculture, fishing). Longer watch times than other platforms.
• Short‑form video (TikTok/Reels) drives discovery for local food, events, rodeo/fairs, and small businesses; cross‑posting to Instagram Reels improves reach.
• Messaging for coordination: Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are widely used for family, work crews, and small‑business customer service; Spanish‑language use is notable, aligning with the county’s Hispanic community.
• Trust and engagement are local-first: Content from recognizable local voices, schools, teams, law enforcement, and service providers outperforms brand-only posts.
• Practical content wins: Weather alerts, road closures, event reminders, hunting/fishing conditions, and farm/ranch tips get higher saves/shares than generic brand content.
• Buying behavior: Facebook/Instagram remain the most efficient paid reach for adults 30+; TikTok/Instagram are strongest for under‑35 awareness; YouTube works well for consideration via how‑to and review content.

Method and sources

• Figures are county‑level estimates built from U.S. rural social media adoption (Pew Research Center, 2024 adults; 2023 teens) applied to Okeechobee’s demographic profile. Platform percentages reflect U.S. adult usage (teens where noted) and serve as reliable proxies for Okeechobee.