Tallahassee, Florida: Town Guide

Tallahassee is Florida's capital city, in Leon County, with 102.565 square miles of land and only 2.913 square miles of water.

The land and water figures come from the Census Bureau's 2024 place gazetteer for Tallahassee city (Census gazetteer). Water makes up less than 3 percent of the city's total area. Leon County government works from the Leon County Courthouse at 301 S Monroe St., phone 850-606-5300 (Leon County).

Tallahassee International Airport, run by the City of Tallahassee's Aviation Department, sits at 3300 Capital Circle SW, phone 850-891-7800 (Tallahassee International Airport). The airport page reports that Breeze Airways added two nonstop routes from TLH, to Fort Lauderdale and to Raleigh-Durham. A travel advisory on the same Tallahassee page still tells Silver Airways customers that the carrier ceased operations as of June 11, 2025, including its TLH to Fort Lauderdale flights, so older Tallahassee flight plans built around Silver no longer apply.

The Tallahassee places section covers Frenchtown, Lake Ella, Gaines Street and Collegetown and Railroad Square, and the utilities and government sections explain the city-run services that come with a Tallahassee address.

Tallahassee counted an estimated 201,875 residents, with a median age of only 28.2, in the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

In the same ACS release, 16.6 percent of Tallahassee residents were under 18 and just 11.7 percent were 65 or older (ACS 2024 DP05 table for Tallahassee). Median household income was $57,409, and Tallahassee commuters averaged 19.1 minutes to work (ACS 2024 DP03 table for Tallahassee).

Tallahassee is a renters' city. Of its 85,311 occupied homes, 59.4 percent were rented and 40.6 percent were owner occupied (ACS 2024 DP04 table for Tallahassee), out of 97,245 housing units in all. The median value of an owner-occupied Tallahassee home was $294,400, and median gross rent stood at $1,293 a month.

These five-year figures each carry a margin of error in the Census tables. The Tallahassee demographics, schools and real estate sections go further.

A five-member Tallahassee City Commission, led by Mayor John Dailey and Mayor Pro Tem Curtis Richardson, sets city policy, and appointed City Manager Karen Jumonville runs daily operations from 300 South Adams Street.

The other three commissioners are Jacqueline (Jack) Porter, Jeremy Matlow and Dianne Williams-Cox (City of Tallahassee leadership). Besides the city manager, the commission appoints Inspector General Dennis R. Sutton, Treasurer-Clerk James Cooke IV and City Attorney Amy M. Toman. The City Commission office is at 300 South Adams Street, phone 850-891-8181. Last verified: October 14, 2026, on the City of Tallahassee website.

Tallahassee's mayor is a leadership mayor, not a strong mayor: the office presides at commission meetings and leads talks with county, state and federal officials, but has no veto and holds one vote (About the City Commission). The mayor and commissioners serve staggered four-year terms with elections in even-numbered years, two seats in presidential cycles and two others plus the mayor in midterm cycles, so 2026 is a Tallahassee mayoral year. Regular commission meetings are typically held twice a month, with added workshops.

Leon County runs the elections. The Leon County Supervisor of Elections is preparing for the November 3 General Election and answers at (850) 606-8683 from its office at 2990-1 Apalachee Parkway (Leon County Supervisor of Elections). The Tallahassee government section covers the commission members, commission seats and elections, the mayor's office and voting in Leon County.

Two state parks lead the list of things to do in Tallahassee, Maclay Gardens State Park with its January to April blooms and Lake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park.

Maclay Gardens and its historic gardens open daily from 8 a.m. until sunset, and admission is $6 per vehicle for up to eight people, $4 for a single-occupant vehicle and $2 for walkers and cyclists (Maclay Gardens hours and fees). From January through April, the blooming months, the gardens charge a separate entry of $6 for adults and $3 for children 2 to 12, and the Maclay House museum opens 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. A Tallahassee visit in October skips the garden fee but also misses the blooms.

Lake Jackson Mounds is open from 8 a.m. to sundown, 365 days a year, and charges $3 per vehicle, paid at an honor box that requires correct change (Lake Jackson Mounds hours and fees). Bringing exact bills matters at this Tallahassee park because the honor box takes only correct change.

The Tallahassee parks, landmarks, recreation, events and sports sections cover more, from Cascades Park and the Capitol to Mission San Luis, Springtime Tallahassee and Doak Campbell Stadium.

In 2026 Tallahassee completed the transfer of its city-owned hospital assets to Florida State University on April 10, and the mayor's seat is up in the city's midterm election cycle.

Florida State University and the City of Tallahassee completed the legal transfer of the city-owned hospital assets on April 10, 2026, which Florida State described as a historic milestone for FSU Health, its academic health system (Florida State University News). Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare continues to operate the hospital and remains responsible for patient care, employees and daily operations.

At City Hall, the Tallahassee leadership page now lists Karen Jumonville as city manager and Amy M. Toman as city attorney (City Leadership page). Because 2026 is a midterm cycle, the mayor's seat and two commission seats are on the Tallahassee ballot this year under the commission's election schedule.

The Tallahassee real estate and government sections follow growth areas such as Southwood and Welaunee and the Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency.

Storm orders, sandbag sites and shelter locations for Tallahassee come from Leon County's Emergency Information Portal, which in October 2026 carried the county's Hurricane Isaias notices.

The Leon County portal posts a Hurricane Isaias community brief on damage assessment and recovery, a property damage form for Isaias, and the county's declaration of a local state of emergency as the storm approached (Leon County Emergency Information Portal). It also lists sandbag locations, shelter locations, power outages, road obstructions, the Disaster Survival Guide, the statewide special needs registry and a Voluntary Water Shortage Warning Order. Leon County news alerts can be reached at (850) 606-3700.

Tallahassee earns a strong flood insurance discount. FEMA lists the City of Tallahassee (community 120144) in the National Flood Insurance Program at Community Rating System class 5 since October 1, 2022, worth 25 percent off premiums in the special flood hazard area and 10 percent outside (FEMA NFIP community status). The catch is age: the Tallahassee flood maps in effect date from August 18, 2009, so they predate any changes made since 2009.

The Tallahassee safety and weather sections cover flood zones, severe weather preparedness and storms such as Hurricane Hermine in 2016 and Hurricane Helene in 2024.

The Tallahassee sections named above each hold several guides, and this table pairs the questions most asked about Tallahassee with a short answer and the section to open next.

Further Tallahassee sections cover the economy and industries, history, the environment, utilities and weather, with guides on state government jobs, the canopy roads, the city electric utility and seasonal weather patterns.