North Central Florida · Sumter County

Living in The Villages, Florida

The Villages is an unincorporated community in Sumter County, with about 83,498 people.1 It feels suburban, at 2,557 people per square mile.1,3

83,4981people
$400,1001median home value
$1,397/mo1median rent
74.11median age

Unincorporated: there's no city government; Sumter County provides roads, zoning and law enforcement.

Nearest 24-hour emergency room

The Villages Regional Hospital, listed in The Villages.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 The Villages town card

Choosing Your Place has the complete card for The Villages and 779 other places:

Get Choosing Your Place · $9.99See a full sample card

Other places in Sumter County

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 The Villages as a Census-defined place; the area a mailing address calls The Villages 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)