Duval County was created in 1822 from St. Johns County. It was named for William Pope Duval, Territorial Governor of Florida from 1822 to 1834. When Duval County was created it covered a massive area, from the Suwannee River on the west to the Atlantic Ocean on the east, north of a line from the mouth of the Suwannee River to Jacksonville on the St. Johns River. Alachua and Nassau Counties were created out of parts of Duval County in 1824. Clay County was created from part of Duval County in 1858. Part of St. Johns County south and east of the lower reaches of the St. Johns River was transferred to Duval County in the 1840s.
On October 1, 1968, the government of Duval County was consolidated with the government of the City of Jacksonville, although the Duval County cities of Atlantic Beach, Baldwin, Jacksonville Beach, and Neptune Beach are not included in the corporate limits of Jacksonville, and maintain their own municipal governments. In the early 1990s these three beach cities considered separating from Duval and forming Ocean County, an idea that had been discussed since consolidation, but after the 1995 election of Jacksonville mayor John Delaney, a resident and former Mayor of Neptune Beach, the idea was dropped.
As of the census of 2000, there were 778,879 people, 303,747 households, and 201,688 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,007 people per square mile. There were 329,778 housing units at an average density of 426 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 65.80% White, 27.83% Black or African American, 0.33% Native American, 2.71% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 1.31% from other races, and 1.96% from two or more races. 4.10% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 90.7% spoke English, 4.1% Spanish and 1.0% Tagalog as their first language.
There were 303,747 households out of which 33.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.50% were married couples living together, 15.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.60% were non-families. 26.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.06.
In the county the population was spread out with 26.30% under the age of 18, 9.60% from 18 to 24, 32.40% from 25 to 44, 21.20% from 45 to 64, and 10.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 94.20 males.
For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.90 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $40,703, and the median income for a family was $47,689. Males had a median income of $32,954 versus $26,015 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,753. About 9.20% of families and 11.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.40% of those under age 18 and 11.60% of those age 65 or over.
According to the city's website, as of October 2004, there were 515,202 registered voters in Duval County.
Towns and Cities in Duval County
Atlantic Beach
Baldwin
Jacksonville
Jacksonville Beach
Neptune Beach
Adjacent Counties
Nassau County, Florida - north
St. Johns County, Florida - southeast
Clay County, Florida - southwest
Baker County, Florida - west
