Living in Fort Walton Beach, Florida
Fort Walton Beach is a city in Okaloosa County, with about 21,025 people.1 It feels suburban, at 2,752 people per square mile.1,3
Nearest 24-hour emergency room
HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital, listed in Fort Walton Beach.2
Straight-line distance from the town's center; driving is longer. Freestanding ERs and urgent care aren't counted.
Life in the Panhandle
Florida's far northwest: sugar-white Gulf beaches, Navy and Air Force towns, and a Southern pace.4
Hazards: Hurricanes hit hard here. Michael came ashore at Mexico Beach in October 2018 as a Category 5 with 160 mph winds and a storm surge about 14 feet deep, damaged every building on Tyndall Air Force Base, and was blamed for 50 deaths in Florida. It was the strongest landfall ever recorded on the Panhandle. Ivan in 2004 and Sally in 2020 also battered the Pensacola area.4,5,6,7
Visitor information
Okaloosa County's official tourism office: Destin-Fort Walton Beach.8 Ask about local events, things to do and a free visitor guide, if they offer one.
Read the free Panhandle preview, including the region's state-certified visitor centers.
The full Fort Walton Beach town card
Choosing Your Place has the complete card for Fort Walton Beach and 779 other places:
- How its home values, rent, age and income compare with the rest of the Panhandle
- Household income, and how many ER hospitals are within 15 miles
- The nearest airline airport and the nearest big airport
- The full region profile, side-by-side compare and the monthly-cost calculator
Other places in Okaloosa County
- Crestview · 28,773 people · home value $277,900
- Wright · 27,927 people · home value $306,100
- Niceville · 16,544 people · home value $423,500
- Destin · 14,077 people · home value $490,300
- Lake Lorraine · 6,903 people · home value $434,500
- Ocean City · 5,941 people · home value $303,900
- Valparaiso · 4,885 people · home value $394,700
- Mary Esther · 4,061 people · home value $298,900
- Hurlburt Field · 2,951 people · home value not published
- Eglin AFB · 2,778 people · home value not published
"Median" means half are above and half below. Figures are U.S. Census Bureau estimates for Fort Walton Beach as a Census-defined place; the area a mailing address calls Fort Walton Beach can be larger.
Notes
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024
- CMS Hospital General Information (Care Compare)
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 Gazetteer files (places)
- Eglin Air Force Base (Wikipedia)
- Pensacola climate summaries (National Weather Service, Mobile)
- Pensacola (Wikipedia)
- Hurricane Michael (Wikipedia)
- County tourism office websites, each opened or confirmed 2026-11-05