North Central Florida · Union County

Living in Lake Butler, Florida

Lake Butler is a city in Union County, with about 1,601 people.1 It feels small-town or low-density suburban, at 679 people per square mile.1,3

1,6011people
$167,8001median home value
$774/mo1median rent
35.11median age

Small place: Census estimates for places under 5,000 people have wide margins of error. Treat these figures as rough.

Nearest 24-hour emergency room

Lake Butler Hospital, listed in Lake Butler (a small rural Critical Access Hospital).2

Straight-line distance from the town's center; driving is longer. Freestanding ERs and urgent care aren't counted.

Life in North Central Florida

Florida's college-town and horse-country middle: Gainesville and the University of Florida, Ocala's thoroughbred farms, and The Villages, the giant retirement community.4,5,6,7,8

Hazards: Hurricanes arrive weaker than on the coast, but wind, falling trees, long power outages and flooding still reach inland. Mobile and manufactured homes should evacuate; Marion County's own hurricane guidance says so.9,10

Read the free North Central Florida preview, including the region's state-certified visitor centers.

The full Lake Butler town card

Choosing Your Place has the complete card for Lake Butler and 779 other places:

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Written by Charles Squires, North Port, Florida. 40 years living in Florida, in eight places.

I called on schools in Sumter County and across this part of the state.

More about the author and how this manual is made

"Median" means half are above and half below. Figures are U.S. Census Bureau estimates for Lake Butler as a Census-defined place; the area a mailing address calls Lake Butler can be larger.

Notes

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024
  2. CMS Hospital General Information (Care Compare)
  3. U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 Gazetteer files (places)
  4. Gainesville climate, 1991–2020 normals (Wikipedia, from NOAA)
  5. University of Florida (Wikipedia)
  6. Ocala, Florida (Wikipedia)
  7. The Villages, Florida (Wikipedia)
  8. Ocala National Forest (Wikipedia)
  9. Marion County QuickFacts (U.S. Census Bureau)
  10. Hurricane Preparedness (Marion County Sheriff's Office)