Indian River County Demographics Guide

The Census Bureau's ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates count 166,936 residents in Indian River County, and only about a third of them live inside Sebastian, Vero Beach, Fellsmere, Indian River Shores or Orchid.

Sebastian is the largest city at 26,262 people, then Vero Beach at 17,042, Fellsmere at 4,953, Indian River Shores at 4,386 and Orchid at 441 (Census ACS places in the county). Together the five municipalities hold 53,084 residents, so the other 113,852, about two in three, live outside the five municipalities (Census ACS DP05).

The biggest single community is not a city at all. Vero Beach South, an unincorporated census designated place, has 30,344 residents, more than the City of Vero Beach and the City of Sebastian. Florida Ridge (20,889), West Vero Corridor (10,461), Vero Lake Estates (6,559), Winter Beach (4,985) and Gifford (4,668) follow.

Indian River County has a median age of 55.3 and 34.8 percent of residents 65 or older, but the range runs from a median of 32.0 in Fellsmere to 74.8 in Orchid.

Children under 18 make up 15.0 percent of the county (Census ACS DP05). The two smallest towns sit at the top of the age scale: 84.6 percent of Orchid residents and 73.1 percent of Indian River Shores residents are 65 or older (Census ACS places). Sebastian is in between at a median of 58.2 with 36.8 percent aged 65 and over, and Vero Beach is younger at 52.5 with 28.9 percent.

The youngest communities are Gifford and Fellsmere. Gifford has a median age of 31.7 and Fellsmere 32.0, where only 8.8 percent of residents are 65 or older. Vero Lake Estates comes in at 43.1 and Vero Beach South at 48.8.

About 13.9 percent of Indian River County residents are Hispanic or Latino of any race, a share that climbs to 76.3 percent in Fellsmere, the county's most Hispanic city.

Elsewhere the Hispanic share is 18.5 percent in Vero Lake Estates, 15.7 percent in Vero Beach South, 13.3 percent in Sebastian and 11.6 percent in Vero Beach, falling to 4.1 percent in Indian River Shores and 2.0 percent in Orchid (Census ACS places).

Across Indian River County, 10.0 percent of residents were born outside the United States and 14.1 percent of people aged 5 and over speak a language other than English at home (Census ACS DP02). Civilian veterans are 9.6 percent of the civilian population 18 and over. Fellsmere stands apart: 31.5 percent of its residents were born outside the United States and 69.9 percent of those 5 and over speak a language other than English at home, against 8.1 and 12.3 percent in Sebastian (Census ACS DP02 places).

The Indian River County Supervisor of Elections lists a Spanish hotline, 833-347-2763, alongside its main office line, 772-226-4700 (Indian River County Supervisor of Elections).

Indian River County has 70,816 households averaging 2.33 people, a median household income of $73,491, and 52.9 percent of its households receive Social Security; the county median is above both Sebastian at $69,409 and Vero Beach at $69,758 (Census ACS DP03 places).

Of county residents 25 and older, 92.0 percent are high school graduates or higher and 33.8 percent hold a bachelor's degree or higher (Census ACS DP02). The bachelor's share runs from 12.1 percent in Fellsmere to 27.1 percent in Sebastian, 39.1 percent in Vero Beach and 79.3 percent in Indian River Shores (Census ACS DP02 places).

In the ACS 2020-2024 estimates, 39.7 percent of county households receive retirement income, and 11.1 percent of all people in the county had income below the poverty level in the past 12 months (Census ACS DP03). That poverty rate is 6.7 percent in Indian River Shores, 10.1 percent in Sebastian, 16.1 percent in Vero Beach, 18.8 percent in Fellsmere and 42.0 percent in the Gifford census designated place (Census ACS DP03 places).

The county has 86,440 housing units, but 15,624 of them, 18.1 percent, were vacant when surveyed, 80.1 percent of occupied homes are owner occupied, and 65.9 percent of all units are single family detached houses (Census ACS DP04). The vacant share is 10.7 percent of housing units in Sebastian, 12.9 percent in Fellsmere, 27.9 percent in Vero Beach, 33.2 percent in Indian River Shores and 45.8 percent in Orchid (Census ACS DP04 places).

Indian River County, including Sebastian and Vero Beach, had 118,894 active registered voters on August 31, 2026, with Republicans at 63,343, Democrats at 26,292, no party voters at 23,926 and minor parties at 5,333.

Those counts, from the Florida Division of Elections, put Republicans at about 53 percent of active voters, Democrats at 22 percent and no party voters at 20 percent. The total rose by 1,753 from 117,141 on December 31, 2025, while no party registrations fell from 24,655 to 23,926 over the same months (Florida Division of Elections party affiliation report). The workbook lists each county as a single row, so these counts cover Sebastian, Vero Beach, Fellsmere, Indian River Shores, Orchid and the unincorporated county together. The September sheet in the same workbook was still blank on October 15, 2026, so August 31 is the latest month.

Voter registration and vote-by-mail requests go through the Supervisor of Elections, Leslie Rossway Swan, at 4375 43rd Avenue, Vero Beach (772-226-4700), open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Indian River County Supervisor of Elections). The Indian River County voter registration statistics guide breaks the figures down month by month with turnout.

The Indian River County voter registration statistics guide covers voters and turnout, and the town profiles for Sebastian, Vero Beach and Fellsmere carry each city's own Census figures.

Every Census number on this page is a five-year estimate covering 2020 through 2024 and comes with a margin of error; Orchid's figures rest on a population estimate of 441. The Indian River County profile page covers the county's government offices.