Indian River County, Florida: County Guide

Indian River County is a Treasure Coast county with five municipalities, Sebastian, Fellsmere, Vero Beach, Indian River Shores and Orchid, and unincorporated Indian River County outside their limits.

FEMA's flood insurance records list six separate communities inside the county: unincorporated Indian River County, the City of Fellsmere, the Town of Indian River Shores, the Town of Orchid, the City of Sebastian and the City of Vero Beach (FEMA NFIP community list).

Anywhere outside those five municipal limits is unincorporated county. The Board of County Commissioners, which calls itself the governing body that sets the laws and policies under which the county runs, keeps a Vero Lake Estates Municipal Service Taxing Unit advisory committee for one of those unincorporated neighborhoods (Board of County Commissioners).

A practical tip: an address that says Vero Beach is not always inside the City of Vero Beach. The city's home page carries an Am I a City or County Resident? tool next to its City Hall contact, 1053 20th Place, 772-978-5151 (City of Vero Beach). Checking that first tells a new resident whether garbage, permits and zoning questions go to Vero Beach City Hall or to the county building at 1801 27th Street.

About 166,936 people lived in Indian River County, home of Vero Beach and Sebastian, in the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 2020-2024 5-year estimates (ACS 2024 DP05 table).

The county around Vero Beach and Sebastian is one of the older places in Florida by median age: 55.3 years in that ACS 2020-2024 5-year release, with 34.8 percent of residents 65 or older (ACS DP05). Median household income across the county, Fellsmere and Orchid included, was $73,491, and workers averaged a 23.8 minute commute (ACS 2024 DP03 table).

Housing in Indian River County, from Fellsmere to Indian River Shores, counted 86,440 units, and 80.1 percent of occupied homes were owner occupied (ACS 2024 DP04 table). The median owner-occupied home was valued at $351,500 and median gross rent was $1,357 a month.

These are five-year averages, not a 2024 head count, and each carries a margin of error in the Census tables. The Sebastian town guide gives the same ACS figures for the city, and the county demographics section covers voter registration statistics.

A five-member Board of County Commissioners, chaired by Deryl Loar with Laura Moss as vice chairman, governs Indian River County from the county building at 1801 27th Street, Vero Beach.

The board describes itself as the governing body that sets the laws and policies under which the county runs (Board of County Commissioners). Each commissioner represents a district and has a direct line: Susan Adams, District 1, 772-226-1442; Joseph E. Flescher, District 2, 772-226-1919; Joe Earman, District 3, 772-226-1433; Deryl Loar, District 4, 772-226-1440; and Laura Moss, District 5, 772-226-1473. The main county line is 772-567-8000, and general office hours at 1801 27th Street in Vero Beach run 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the Indian River County Board of County Commissioners website.

Five constitutional officers run the rest: the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, the Property Appraiser, the Sheriff, the Supervisor of Elections and the Tax Collector, which the county board lists alongside the Mosquito Control District and the Soil and Water Conservation District as other governmental entities (county government directory).

Clerk of Court Ryan Butler, a Vero Beach native, became the county's eighth Clerk of the Courts and Comptroller on July 1, 2023 after his appointment by Governor Ron DeSantis (Indian River Clerk of the Circuit Court). The clerk works from the Indian River County Courthouse at 2000 16th Avenue, Vero Beach (772-226-3100), and also serves as the comptroller and internal auditor of the county. North county residents can use the clerk's Sebastian office at 1921 U.S. Highway 1, which opens only Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., so a Tuesday or Thursday errand needs the Vero Beach courthouse instead.

Sheriff Eric Flowers runs the Indian River County Sheriff's Office from 4055 41st Avenue, Vero Beach, phone 772-569-6700 (Indian River County Sheriff). Its lobby stays open until 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and closes at 5 p.m. the other weekdays. The county government section covers the commission, the clerk and the sheriff in their own guides.

Property values and exemptions belong to Property Appraiser Wesley Davis, tax bills to Tax Collector Carole Jean Jordan, and voting to Supervisor of Elections Leslie Rossway Swan.

The Property Appraiser keeps two offices, at 1800 27th Street, Building B, Vero Beach (772-226-1469) and at 1921 U.S. 1 in Sebastian (772-226-1133), both open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays (Indian River County Property Appraiser). Homestead exemption requires permanent Florida residency on January 1, and the application is due to the property appraiser by March 1; the office notes that applications submitted now count for the 2027 tax year. The office's home page reports the 2025 certified tax roll for the county: just value of $50,576,965,743, taxable value of $31,758,608,187 and 95,396 real parcels.

The Tax Collector requires appointments for in-person services (Indian River County Tax Collector), so a walk-in visit is not the right plan; the office books appointments on its website or by phone at 772-226-1338. The office posted on October 12, 2026 that 2026 tax bills are now available to view, pay and print online.

The Supervisor of Elections office is at 4375 43rd Avenue, Vero Beach, phone 772-226-4700, open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday (Indian River County Supervisor of Elections). Its list of past supervisors begins with Charles D. Toole in 1925 (past supervisors list). The county government section has separate guides to the property appraiser, homestead and property tax exemptions, property tax bills and payment, the tax collector and the supervisor of elections, and the practical guides section covers voter registration, vote by mail and where to vote.

Indian River County Emergency Management, at 4225 43rd Avenue in Vero Beach (772-226-3900), publishes the evacuation zones, routes and public shelters for Sebastian, Vero Beach, Fellsmere and the rest of the county.

The department runs the Alert Indian River emergency notification system and posts its evacuation zone and route maps, the public shelter list and map, the pet evacuation shelter and the special needs shelter program on one page (Indian River County Emergency Management). It also posts the county's emergency ordinances, declarations and orders.

Flood insurance prices depend partly on which community a home sits in. Every Indian River County community, from Fellsmere to Orchid, shares a current effective FEMA flood map date of January 26, 2023 (FEMA NFIP community status). Unincorporated county and Indian River Shores hold Community Rating System class 5, worth a 25 percent discount in the special flood hazard area, while Sebastian and Vero Beach are class 6 (20 percent). Orchid shows no class at all.

The county safety section goes further with guides to emergency management, hurricane evacuation zones, hurricane shelters, fire rescue and 911 and text to 911, and the Sebastian and Vero Beach town guides add each city's own safety pages.

Fall 2026 brings new property tax bills, the November 3 general election with early voting at Sebastian City Hall and three Vero Beach sites.

For the 2026 general election, the registration deadline passed on October 5, early voting runs October 19 to 31, and the request deadline for a mail ballot is October 22 by 5 p.m. (Upcoming Elections). Early voting sites include Sebastian City Hall at 1225 Main Street, the Supervisor of Elections office at 4375 43rd Avenue the Main Library in Vero Beach at 1600 21st Street and the Intergenerational Recreation Center (iG Center) at 1590 9th Street SW, Vero Beach. Election Day polls open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and voters must vote at their assigned polling location that day.

Fellsmere's current class 7 rating in FEMA's Community Rating System took effect April 1, 2026, worth 15 percent off flood insurance in the special flood hazard area, and Indian River Shores reached class 5 on October 1, 2025 (FEMA NFIP community list).

One figure to read with care: in mid October 2026 the Property Appraiser's home page still headlines the 2025 certified tax roll rather than a 2026 one (Property Appraiser home page), while the Tax Collector has already posted the 2026 bills online. Questions about a 2026 assessed value in Vero Beach or Sebastian go to the property appraiser; questions about paying the bill go to the tax collector.

Getting around without a car, GoLine buses run Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on most routes, and riders reach GoLine at 772-569-0903 (GoLine). The county transportation section has a GoLine bus guide.

The Indian River County library has twelve sections, from government and taxes to practical guides, plus town guides for Sebastian, Vero Beach and Fellsmere.

The government and taxes section is the largest, with guides to the commission, the clerk of the circuit court, the property appraiser, the tax collector, the supervisor of elections, the sheriff's office, the county budget and millage, the one cent sales tax projects, building permits and planning and zoning in unincorporated Indian River County. The practical guides section answers errand questions in Vero Beach and Sebastian: driver licenses and ID cards, vehicle titles and registration, marriage licenses, passports, jury duty, small claims court, the public library system and veterans services.

The remaining sections are smaller: schools (calendar, bell times, enrollment, buses, meals and early learning), utilities (county water and sewer, the drinking water quality report, the landfill and the septic to sewer program), environment (conservation lands, Indian River Lagoon programs and the mosquito control district), parks (county parks and aquatic centers), health services (the Department of Health office and the hospital district), agriculture (greenbelt classification and agricultural statistics), economy (sales tax) and demographics (voter registration statistics). The Sebastian, Vero Beach and Fellsmere town guides then answer the city side of each question.