FL · Duval County · 949,611 (2020) · 12th-largest US city · largest city in Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is on the St. Johns River in the northeast corner of Florida, 25 miles south of the Georgia line. It is the largest city in Florida and the twelfth-largest in the United States.
- State
- Florida
- County
- Duval County (consolidated)
- Population (2020)
- 949,611
- Rank
- 12th in the US
- Coordinates
- 30.33°N, 81.66°W
- Time zone
- Eastern
- Metro area
- about 1.6 million
- State capital
- No – Tallahassee
Where Jacksonville is
Jacksonville is at 30.33°N, 81.66°W in Duval County. Since 1968 the city and county have been a single consolidated government, so the city covers about 875 square miles — the largest land area of any city in the contiguous United States. Downtown sits on the north bank of the St. Johns River about 16 feet above sea level; the Atlantic beaches are 15 miles east and the Georgia border 25 miles north. Tallahassee, the state capital, is 165 miles west, and Miami is 345 miles south at the other end of the state.
Population and rank
The 2020 Census counted 949,611 residents, ranking Jacksonville 12th among US cities and first in Florida, ahead of Miami by more than half a million — a gap that is mostly a product of consolidation, since Jacksonville's city limits include what elsewhere would be suburbs. The Jacksonville metropolitan area (Duval, Clay, Nassau, St. Johns and Baker counties) has about 1.6 million people, the fourth-largest metro in Florida after Miami, Tampa and Orlando. About 60 percent of the metro population lives inside the city, an unusually high share.
Geography
- St. Johns River — flows north through Florida and turns east at Jacksonville to reach the Atlantic at Mayport; it is up to three miles wide in the city and tidal throughout.
- Atlantic coast — Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach and Atlantic Beach are separate towns on the barrier island; the city itself reaches the ocean at Hanna Park and Mayport. See US coastlines.
- Intracoastal Waterway — runs behind the barrier beaches through salt marsh and the Timucuan preserve.
- Terrain — flat coastal plain of sand and pine flatwoods; the Trail Ridge, the highest ground in the county at about 190 feet, runs along the western edge.
Nearest large cities
No other city in the top fifty is within three hours. Savannah and Orlando, both outside this list, are closer than any of the cities below. Distances are approximate road miles from downtown.
| City | State | Road distance (mi) | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | GA | 345 | NW |
| Miami | FL | 345 | S |
| Charlotte | NC | 380 | N |
| New Orleans | LA | 545 | W |
| Nashville | TN | 560 | NW |
Is Jacksonville the state capital?
No. Florida's capital is Tallahassee, 165 miles west in the Panhandle, chosen in 1824 as a midpoint between the old Spanish capitals of St. Augustine and Pensacola. Jacksonville is the seat of Duval County and the largest city in Florida — a distinction it has held since consolidation in 1968.
Related maps
- Florida map — the state with its 67 counties.
- Tallahassee — the state capital.
- US cities map.
- US coastlines map.
- Nearby: Miami, Atlanta, Georgia.
- South Atlantic division · Eastern Time Zone (the Florida Panhandle west of the Apalachicola is on Central).