Kissimmee is the seat of Osceola County, on the north shore of Lake Tohopekaliga. The 2020 Census counted 79,226 residents on 21.5 square miles of land, and the Census Bureau’s 2020-2024 survey estimate is 81,479. City Hall is at 101 Church Street, a short walk from the SunRail and Amtrak station.
The city began as a trading post called Allendale and was incorporated as Kissimmee City in 1883. Voters chose it as county seat after the Legislature created Osceola County in 1887, and the 1890 courthouse is still used for court.
A Kissimmee mailing address covers far more ground than the city does. Buenaventura Lakes is a census-designated place in unincorporated Osceola County (30,251 residents in 2020). Poinciana is another, spread across unincorporated Osceola and Polk counties (69,309 residents in 2020). Celebration also lies outside the city. The difference matters: the city and the county have different tax rates, utilities, trash service and rental rules, and the Property Appraiser’s record for a parcel shows which applies.
Homes and neighborhoods
The Census Bureau estimates 30,926 housing units in the city (ACS 2020-2024). About 46 percent are single-family detached houses, 8 percent are attached houses such as townhomes, 10 percent are in buildings of two to four units, 32 percent are in buildings of five or more units, and 3 percent are mobile homes. Of occupied homes, about 46 percent are owner-occupied.
The median home was built in 1992. About 22 percent were built before 1980, 24 percent in the 1980s and 36 percent in 2000 or later.
The oldest plats are downtown. The city’s Downtown Kissimmee redevelopment area runs from John Young Parkway east to the lake and from Vine Street south to Clay Street. County parcel records (read October 2026) place these larger subdivisions inside the city’s tax district: BellaVida, Knightsbridge, The Oaks, Cypress Reserve, Magnolia Park, Fiesta Key, Orange Gardens and Liberty Village. The same records count about 17,850 improved single-family parcels and 3,825 condominium units in the city.
The census median value of owner-occupied homes was $304,400 for 2020-2024. That is a survey figure, not a sale price. To see what is listed now, search homes for sale in Kissimmee, or look at recent sales and rentals.
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Property taxes in Kissimmee
Florida taxes a home on its assessed value less exemptions, multiplied by the millage rate (dollars per $1,000 of taxable value). The 2025 rates inside the city:
| Taxing authority | 2025 millage |
|---|---|
| Osceola County (general fund 6.7000, library 0.3000, Save Osceola 0.2500) | 7.2500 |
| School District of Osceola County | 5.3060 |
| City of Kissimmee | 4.6253 |
| South Florida Water Management District | 0.2301 |
| Total | 17.4114 |
Unincorporated Osceola County, which includes Buenaventura Lakes and the Osceola side of Poinciana, has no city levy. The county adds 1.0682 mills there for emergency medical services, and the 2025 total was 13.8543 mills, or more in neighborhoods with a county service district.
The homestead exemption takes up to $50,000 off the assessed value of a primary residence. The first $25,000 applies to all taxes. A second amount, on value above $50,000, applies to non-school taxes only and is now adjusted for inflation: $25,722 for 2025 and $26,411 for 2026. As a worked example, a homesteaded house assessed at $300,000 in the city owed about $4,477 for 2025, and about $5,223 without the exemption. Non-ad valorem assessments are added to the same bill.
Save Our Homes caps the yearly rise in a homesteaded home’s assessed value at 3 percent or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower: 2.7 percent for 2026. Other property is capped at 10 percent a year. A sale ends the seller’s cap and the home is reassessed at market value the next January 1, so a buyer’s bill can be much higher than the seller’s last one. The Property Appraiser’s tax estimator shows the difference for a given price.
The Property Appraiser mails the notice of proposed taxes (the TRIM notice) in August. Bills go out by November 1, with a 4 percent discount for paying in November, 3 percent in December, 2 percent in January and 1 percent in February, and they are delinquent April 1. Homestead applications are due March 1.
Amendment 3 on the November 3, 2026 ballot would raise the non-school homestead exemption and cut the 10 percent cap to 5 percent from 2027 if voters approve it. The figures here are the rules for 2025 and 2026 bills.
CDD and HOA fees
Much of the older city has neither. Newer subdivisions usually have a homeowners association, and some sit in a community development district (CDD), a special district that pays for roads, ponds and utilities with bonds and bills owners a yearly assessment on the tax bill. Look for non-ad valorem lines on a parcel’s bill before relying on a tax estimate.
Few associations publish their dues. Under section 720.30851, Florida Statutes, an association must deliver an estoppel certificate within 10 business days of a request, stating the regular assessment and anything owed. We can pull the HOA documents for a home you are considering.
Short-term rental rules
The city’s Land Development Code defines a short-term rental as a home rented for less than 30 days. Section 14-6-44 prohibits that in a residential district with two exceptions: a home in a short-term rental or mixed-use planned development inside the city’s Short-Term Rental Overlay (STRO) that the city approved for the use, or a home approved as a conditional use inside the overlay. Approvals older than the overlay stand while they remain in effect. Confirm a parcel’s district and overlay on the city’s zoning map or with its Planning Division at 407-518-2140.
Outside the city, Osceola County’s code allows short-term rental only in planned developments inside the county’s own overlay. The county’s list of approved developments (revised May 2022) names particular tracts of Buenaventura Lakes and particular Poinciana neighborhoods, not either community as a whole.
A home has to clear three things: zoning, the association’s recorded documents, and licensing. Florida’s DBPR licenses a vacation rental, meaning a whole home rented more than three times a year for less than 30 days. Stays of six months or less owe Osceola County’s 6 percent tourist development tax, paid to the Tax Collector, plus 6 percent state sales tax and the county’s 1.5 percent surtax. Our property management team can check a specific address.
Schools
The School District of Osceola County runs the public schools. Zones go by address, and the board approved the 2026-27 boundaries on June 23, 2026. Look up an address with the district’s BusPlanner tool. The district also lists the charter schools it sponsors.
Utilities
Inside the city, Kissimmee Utility Authority, the city-owned electric system, supplies electricity, and Toho Water Authority supplies water, sewer and reclaimed water. The city’s Solid Waste Division collects residential trash, recycling and yard waste. TECO Peoples Gas is the natural gas provider the county lists; confirm service at the address.
Outside the city the mix changes by address. The county’s map shows KUA serving Buenaventura Lakes and Duke Energy serving the west of the county, and Waste Management collects weekly in unincorporated areas under a county contract.
Getting around
US 192 crosses the city as Vine Street. Florida’s Turnpike has interchanges at US 192 east of the city (exits 242 and 244) and at Osceola Parkway (exit 249). Interstate 4 meets US 192 at exit 64, west of the city. Poinciana Parkway (SR 538) is a 7.2-mile toll road between US 17-92 and Cypress Parkway.
SunRail’s Kissimmee/Amtrak station is at 320 Pleasant Street, with parking and LYNX bus connections; trains run Monday to Friday. Poinciana station, the south end of the line, is at 5025 S. Rail Avenue.
From City Hall, OpenStreetMap routing puts Orlando International Airport about 17 miles and 29 minutes away without traffic, and downtown Orlando about 22 miles and 32 minutes. Brightline’s Orlando station is at the airport. Times on I-4 and US 192 vary widely with traffic.
Flood zones and insurance
The city fronts Lake Tohopekaliga and Shingle Creek, so flood zones change from block to block. Search an address on FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center or the city’s flood zone map. For addresses outside the city, Osceola County gives flood zone determinations.
For wind coverage, insurers discount premiums for features that reduce hurricane damage. An inspector records them on the state’s Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form (OIR-B1-1802, updated April 1, 2026), which is valid for up to five years. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation uses the same form.
Parks and things to do
- Kissimmee Lakefront Park, 201 Lakeview Drive: paved walking and bike paths, playgrounds, a splash pad, a fishing pier, pavilions and the Monument of States. Open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Big Toho Marina: Lake Tohopekaliga’s largest boat ramp and marina, with boat slips, a bait shop and a fishing pier.
- Shingle Creek Regional Trail runs from Lakefront Park to Shingle Creek Regional Park at 2491 Babb Road, which has kayak rentals, paved and unpaved trails and historic homestead houses.
- Mark Durbin Community Park has sports fields, a roller hockey rink and a skate park, and the Fortune Road Athletic Complex has softball and baseball fields.