Haines City is a city of 45,973 people (Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025) in northeast Polk County, on US-27 and US 17/92 south of Davenport. It counted 26,669 residents in the 2020 Census, and its land area has grown from 18.76 square miles in 2020 to 23.86 within the current boundary. City Hall is at 620 East Main Street.
The town was platted in 1885 as Clay Cut, renamed for Colonel Henry Stevens Haines when the railroad agreed to build a station, and incorporated on February 23, 1914.
Homes and neighborhoods
Haines City has 13,711 housing units (ACS 2020-2024). About 72 percent are single-family detached homes, 13 percent are mobile homes and 13 percent are in duplexes and apartment buildings. The median home was built in 2003; 58 percent were built in 2000 or later and 21 percent before 1980. About 71 percent of occupied homes are owner-occupied.
County plat and parcel records (read in October 2026) place the named areas:
- The older core near downtown and Lake Eva sits on plats recorded in 1913 and 1923.
- Southern Dunes covers the Southern Dunes Estates plats of 1998 to 2000 and the Villas at Southern Dunes condominium of 2004: 212 houses, 101 of them on golf course lots, and 128 condominiums, built from 1998 to 2003 around Southern Dunes Golf and Country Club, a course designed by Steve Smyers.
- Balmoral Estates (platted 2016 to 2019), Calabay Parc at Tower Lake (2005 to 2007) and Villa Sorrento (2005) are, with Southern Dunes, the four areas where the city allows short-term rental.
- Newer subdivisions, most of them in Community Development Districts, include Crosswinds East (1,059 lots in a plat recorded in 2024), Cascades (2022 and 2024), Wynnstone (2025), Bradbury Creek (2023), Hammock Reserve (2021 to 2023), Cypress Park Estates (2021 and 2023) and Lawson Dunes (2023).
- Grenelefe, southeast of the city near Lake Marion, has a Haines City address but is in unincorporated Polk County. It was built as a golf and tennis resort. The county’s code now caps new development there at 1,700 single-family homes and 246 townhomes beyond the existing platted lots, and GrowthSpotter reported in March 2025 that the county had approved nearly 2,400 homes on the former resort property.
To see what is listed now, search homes for sale in Haines City or new construction.
search homes for sale in Haines Citynew construction
Property taxes in Haines City
Florida taxes a home on its assessed value less exemptions, times the millage of its taxing district. The 2025 rates for most of the city:
| Taxing authority | 2025 millage |
|---|---|
| Polk County general fund | 6.6348 |
| Polk County School Board | 5.2900 |
| Southwest Florida Water Management District | 0.1831 |
| City of Haines City | 7.3395 |
| Total (mills) | 19.4474 |
Parcels in the South Florida Water Management District instead total 19.4944. Homes outside the city limits with a Haines City address pay the county’s unincorporated rate, 12.9291 or 12.9761.
On a home assessed at $300,000 with no homestead exemption, 19.4474 mills is about $5,834 for 2025. With homestead it is about $4,984: the exemption takes $25,000 off for all taxes and a second amount off the non-school taxes on value above $50,000 ($25,722 in 2025; it rises with inflation each January 1).
A homesteaded home’s assessed value can rise no more than 3 percent a year or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower (2.7 percent for 2026). Other residential property is capped at 10 percent a year, except for school taxes. A sale resets the assessment to market value the next January 1, so a buyer’s bill can be much higher than the seller’s. TRIM notices arrive in August (mailed from August 18 in 2025). Taxes are payable from November 1, with a 4 percent discount in November falling to 1 percent in February, and are delinquent April 1.
CDD and HOA fees
Polk County’s records list more than a dozen Community Development Districts inside the city, among them Westside Haines City (Cascades, Wynnstone, Brentwood Townhomes), Crosswinds East, Hammock Reserve, Bradbury, Cypress Park Estates, Highland Meadows II, Highland Meadows West (Orchid Terrace), Charles Cove (Lake Charles Resort), Lawson Dunes, North Boulevard, Scenic Highway (Magnolia Park) and Scenic Terrace North. Their assessments are non-ad valorem lines on the tax bill. On the 2026 roll, one Cascades lot shows $1,452.00 for debt and $953.92 for maintenance, and one Hammock Reserve lot shows $1,451.61 and $881.68. The Southern Dunes and Balmoral Estates parcels we checked had no CDD line.
City parcels also carry a fire protection assessment ($242.18 to $382.88 on the single-family parcels we checked) and a $63.70 stormwater assessment, both on the 2026 roll.
Each parcel’s lines are on its Property Appraiser record and its tax bill. HOA dues are separate. Florida’s estoppel certificate (section 720.30851, Florida Statutes) is how a buyer gets the association’s own figures, and we can request it and the HOA documents for a home you are considering.
Short-term rental rules
Haines City’s Land Development Regulations treat a rental of less than 30 days as a short term rental, and allow it only where it has been approved through a residential planned unit development or a conditional use permit, inside a short term rental overlay zone the city created in 2018. The conditional use standards include a project of at least two acres and 12 homes, direct access to a collector or arterial road, a buffer of 15 feet or more, security gates at private street entrances and a property owners association.
In practice the city’s Short-Term Rental Information Hub names four eligible areas: Balmoral Estates, Southern Dunes, Calabay Parc (spelled Calabay Park on the city’s page) and Villa Sorrento. It states that a property outside them is not eligible for registration, and that operating one as a short-term rental would violate the regulations. Eligible rentals register with the city under Ordinance 26-2141, which asks for Florida Department of Revenue tax registration, a Polk County tourist development tax account, a state DBPR license, fire extinguishers and posted emergency information.
A home’s association documents have to allow it too. Outside the city limits, Polk County’s Section 303 applies instead and approves the use by subdivision or phase; for Grenelefe, the county’s code keeps short-term rental status for the units that existed on January 7, 2025. Stays of six months or less owe Polk County’s 5 percent tourist development tax, Florida’s 6 percent sales tax and the county’s sales surtax. Our property management page covers what we handle for owners.
Schools
Polk County Public Schools serves Haines City. Attendance zones go by address: the district’s School Zones page has an address lookup and a GeoZone map for a planned move. The district lists charter schools on its Charter Schools page.
Utilities
The city’s Utilities Department runs water and wastewater, and its Solid Waste Division collects garbage and recycling. The city’s FAQ sends street light outages to Duke Energy; the Florida Public Service Commission’s map shows each electric utility’s service area. Homes outside the city limits may be on Polk County Utilities and county trash collection instead, so confirm for the address.
Getting around
From City Hall, the OpenStreetMap route to Walt Disney World runs north on US-27 to Interstate 4: about 24 miles and 39 minutes to the Magic Kingdom toll plaza without traffic. Orlando International Airport is about 39 miles and 56 minutes by I-4 and the State Road 417 toll road, and Lakeland is about 22 miles and 36 minutes west on US 17/92 and US 92. I-4 traffic is heavy at peak hours, so real times vary.
Citrus Connection’s buses here include Route 15 (Winter Haven and Haines City) and three express routes: 16X to Poinciana, 17X to Lake Wales and 20X to Davenport. AdventHealth Heart of Florida, at 40100 US-27, is about 5.7 miles from City Hall.
Flood zones and insurance
Flood zones go by parcel. Search an address on FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center; Polk County Floodplain Management offers free flood assistance by phone. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation requires a four-point inspection (electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling, roof) on homes more than 20 years old, which takes in Southern Dunes, and explains wind mitigation inspections on its site.
Parks and things to do
- Lake Eva Community Park, 555 Ledwith Avenue: 28.8 acres with six tennis courts, two playgrounds, two miles of walking paths, a public boat ramp and a 240-foot fishing pier, plus the Lake Eva community center, event center and aquatic center.
- Other city parks include Railroad Park, Lake Elsie Park, Lake Tracy Boat Ramp Park, Boomerang Park and the Haines City Trail.
- Southern Dunes Golf and Country Club, inside the Southern Dunes community.
- LEGOLAND Florida in Winter Haven is about 14 miles and 24 minutes from City Hall.