Orlando, Florida: Town Guide

Orlando is an inland Orange County city in Central Florida with 111.114 square miles of land, and most visitors arrive through Orlando International Airport.

Orlando has only 8.211 square miles of water inside its limits, including Lake Eola, against 111.114 square miles of land, according to the Census Bureau 2024 gazetteer (Census gazetteer).

Orlando International Airport, One Jeff Fuqua Boulevard, is ranked the seventh busiest airport in the U.S. and the busiest in Florida, with nonstop flights to more than 160 destinations from three terminals (City of Orlando airport listing). It is the only U.S. airport with an intermodal facility offering high-speed rail, through Brightline service to Miami and other east coast cities.

SunRail is Central Florida's commuter train. It runs Monday through Friday on a 49-mile route from DeBary in Volusia County to Poinciana in Osceola County, and since its May 2014 launch it has grown to 16 stations, four of them in the City of Orlando: AdventHealth, LYNX Central Station, Church Street and Orlando Health / Amtrak (City of Orlando SunRail listing). SunRail does not run on weekends, so a Saturday trip to downtown Orlando needs another way in.

The Orlando economy section's major employers 2026 guide and the industries guides on tourism and hospitality and the convention and events economy explain why so much traffic flows through MCO.

Orlando counted roughly 319,758 residents in the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 American Community Survey, a young city whose median resident is 35.1 years old (Census DP05 profile, Orlando).

Orlando is a young city. Just 11.3 percent of Orlando residents were 65 or older in that survey, and 35.4 percent were Hispanic or Latino (Census DP05, Orlando). A quarter of Orlando residents, 25.4 percent, were born in another country, and 42.5 percent of Orlando adults 25 and up had a bachelor degree or more (Census DP02 profile, Orlando).

Renting is the norm in Orlando: only 39.5 percent of occupied units were lived in by their owners. Owners reported a median value of $394,100, and renters paid a median of $1,747 a month (Census DP04 profile, Orlando). The median Orlando household earned $72,336, and the average trip to work lasted 26.2 minutes (Census DP03 profile, Orlando).

Two Orlando population figures circulate, and both are official. The city's own history page says Orlando's population is 339,999 as of 2026 (City of Orlando history page), about 20,000 more than the Census five-year average above. The two measure different things: the Census number averages survey years 2020 through 2024, while the city's is a 2026 figure, and only the Census tables break Orlando down by age, income and housing.

The Orlando real estate section goes neighborhood by neighborhood, with guides on Baldwin Park, College Park, Lake Nona, Thornton Park, downtown condos and market trends.

Mayor Buddy Dyer, in office since 2003, leads the seven-member Orlando City Council with six district commissioners, and Orlando City Hall at 400 South Orange Avenue is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Orlando City Council is the Mayor, elected at-large, plus six City Commissioners elected from districts, all serving four-year terms (Orlando Mayor and City Council). The commissioners in October 2026 are Tom Keen (District 1, elected in 2025), Tony Ortiz (District 2), Roger Chapin (District 3), Patty Sheehan (District 4, first elected in 2000), Shan Rose (District 5) and Bakari F. Burns (District 6, first elected in 2020). The mayor's office line is 407.246.2221.

Council meets at 2 p.m., usually after a 1 p.m. Agenda Review, and the next Orlando City Council meeting is October 26, 2026 (City Council Meetings page). Meetings stream on the city website and YouTube and air on Orange TV channel 488. Anyone who wants to speak on a consent agenda item must complete a Consent Agenda Item Appearance Request Form at orlando.gov/councilcomment by 9 a.m. on meeting day, and Agenda Review is the only designated time for that comment.

The main Orlando City Hall number is 407.246.2121, and the building keeps Monday through Friday hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed on observed holidays (City of Orlando). Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the City of Orlando website.

Orlando's next general election is Tuesday, November 2, 2027, for Mayor and the District 2, 4 and 6 seats; the City Clerk (407.246.2251) is the filing officer (Orlando election information). Vote-by-mail requests expire after each federal general election cycle, so Orlando voters must file a new request with the Orange County Supervisor of Elections. The Orlando government section covers officials, City Council members and the budget.

Inside Orlando city limits, the center of things is Lake Eola Park downtown, with its 0.9-mile lakeside loop and swan boats, followed by the 50 acres of Leu Gardens.

Lake Eola Park, 512 East Washington Street, is open every day from 6 a.m. to 11:59 p.m., and the sidewalk around the lake runs 0.9 miles (Lake Eola Park). Pedal swan boats rent Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and are closed Mondays. The Linton E. Allen Centennial Fountain and the Walt Disney Amphitheater, where the park hosts concerts, movies and plays, sit on the same Orlando lake; the park phone is 407.246.4484.

Harry P. Leu Gardens, 1920 North Forest Avenue, covers 50 acres and keeps fall hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, with last entry an hour before closing (Leu Gardens). The 1888 Historic Leu House Museum, on the National Register of Historic Places, is temporarily closed, so a fall 2026 visit to Leu Gardens is a gardens-only trip; the gardens line is 407.246.2620.

The Orlando landmarks section has guides to Lake Eola Park, Leu Gardens, the Dr. Phillips Center, the Church Street Station historic district, the Orange County Regional History Center, ICON Park, Loch Haven Park, the Orlando Science Center and Winter Park and Rollins. The theme parks section covers the attractions that draw visitors to the Orlando area.

Orlando is heading toward a November 2, 2027 mayoral election, writing a citywide Orlando Resilience Plan, and expanding its Emergency Operations Center at 110 Andes Ave.

The 2027 Orlando ballot carries the Mayor's seat and Districts 2, 4 and 6 (Orlando election information). The most recent city race posted on that page was a District 3 run-off on December 9, 2025, canvassed at the Orange County Supervisor of Elections office, 119 W. Kaley Street.

The Orlando Resilience Plan is meant to give the city a framework against hurricanes, extreme heat, homelessness, housing costs and gaps in free internet access (Orlando Resilience Plan). As part of it, Orlando is updating its 2017 Climate Vulnerability Assessment to cover affordable housing, transportation safety and local food security, after early discussions with 14 city departments.

The Orlando Emergency Operations Center at 110 Andes Ave is getting a design-build expansion that adds training space, storage and four unisex shower and restroom facilities for staff who stay overnight during emergencies (EOC expansion project). SunRail's planned extensions north to DeLand and east to Orlando International Airport are the transit change to watch (SunRail listing).

The Orlando economy section's major employers 2026 guide and the real estate market trends guide follow growth in the city.

Orlando storm planning runs through the city Office of Emergency Management and the Orange County OCAlert system, and the county emergency office answers at 311 or 407-836-3111.

The City of Orlando Office of Emergency Management helps residents prepare for, cope with and recover from disasters, and the city Emergency Operations Center is at 110 Andes Ave (City of Orlando EOC page). Countywide, the Orange County Office of Emergency Management answers at 3-1-1 or 407-836-3111 and sends time-sensitive OCAlert messages by text, email or phone for severe weather and evacuations (Orange County Emergency Management).

A practical tip after any storm: an address that says Orlando may sit in unincorporated Orange County, where Orange County Utilities, not the city, handles waste (City of Orlando storm debris page). Inside Orlando city limits, storm debris must go to the curb in separate piles of bagged yard waste, large vegetation, construction debris and appliances, and debris left behind fences or mixed with household garbage will not be collected.

FEMA places the City of Orlando (community 120186) in Community Rating System class 6, effective May 1, 2008, cutting flood premiums 20 percent in special flood hazard areas and 10 percent elsewhere, and Orlando's current flood maps date from September 24, 2021 (FEMA NFIP record for Orlando). The Orlando safety guides cover hurricane preparedness and sinkhole risk areas, and the weather guides cover the hurricane season, seasonal patterns and historical storm impacts.

Every Orlando answer above links to a deeper set of Digital Towns guides, from SunRail and Lake Eola Park to the Orlando City Council and hurricane preparedness.

Orlando history readers can follow the city from early settlement at Jernigan and the 1880 railroad arrival to the 1965 Walt Disney decision, and Orlando utilities guides cover water service and sewer services from the city.