Orlando is a city of 333,888 people (Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025) in Orange County, Florida. The 2020 Census counted 307,573 on 110.62 square miles of land, and the city boundary the Census Bureau publishes now holds about 130 square miles.
An “Orlando” mailing address is not always inside the city. Many are in unincorporated Orange County, and the difference decides the tax rate, the utilities, the zoning office and the short-term rental rules.
Homes and neighborhoods
Orlando has 148,754 housing units (ACS 2020-2024). About 32 percent are single-family detached houses, 10 percent are attached homes such as townhouses and 50 percent are in buildings of five or more units. About 40 percent of occupied homes are owner-occupied.
The median home was built in 1992. About a third were built before 1980 and about 41 percent in 2000 or later. The Census Bureau’s median value of owner-occupied homes was $394,100 for 2020-2024, which is a survey figure and not a sale price.
Four names that often appear with Orlando sort out this way:
- Downtown is in the city. The City’s neighborhood map calls the core the Central Business District, with South Eola, Lake Eola Heights and Thornton Park beside it.
- Baldwin Park is in the city, northeast of downtown.
- Lake Nona is in the city, in the southeast near Orlando International Airport. The City’s map divides it into Lake Nona Central, Lake Nona South, Lake Nona Estates and Northlake Park at Lake Nona.
- Dr. Phillips is not in the city. The Census Bureau counts Doctor Phillips as a census-designated place, a named area with no city government, with 12,328 residents at the 2020 Census. It is unincorporated Orange County.
To check an address, search it on the Orange County Property Appraiser’s site and read the “Municipality” line. To see what is listed now, search homes for sale in Orlando.
search homes for sale in Orlando
Property taxes in Orlando
Florida taxes a home on its assessed value less exemptions. A homestead exemption takes $25,000 off for every taxing authority. A second exemption, on assessed value above $50,000, takes off about $25,000 more for every authority except the school district; it is adjusted for inflation each January and was $25,722 for 2025 and $26,411 for 2026.
Once a home is homesteaded, Save Our Homes limits the yearly rise in its assessed value to 3 percent or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower: 2.7 percent for 2026. For a home without a homestead exemption, such as a rental or a second home, the limit is 10 percent a year, and it does not apply to school taxes.
A sale ends the seller’s cap. The home is reassessed at market value as of the next January 1, so a buyer’s bill can be much higher than the seller’s last one.
| Taxing authority | 2025 millage |
|---|---|
| City of Orlando | 6.6500 |
| Orange County | 4.4347 |
| Orange County Public Schools | 6.4490 |
| Orange County Library District | 0.3748 |
| St. Johns River Water Management District | 0.1793 |
| Total | 18.0878 |
Where the South Florida Water Management District levies instead (0.2301 mills), as it does in Lake Nona, the total is 18.1386. Some mill codes add a district levy, and the Property Appraiser’s 2025 totals for the city run from 18.0878 to 19.2844.
As a worked example, take a homesteaded home assessed at $400,000 at 18.0878 mills in 2025. School taxes apply to $375,000 and come to $2,418. The other taxes apply to $349,278 and come to $4,065. The total is about $6,484 before non-ad valorem assessments. Without a homestead exemption the same home owed $7,235.
The Property Appraiser mails the notice of proposed taxes (the TRIM notice) in August. The Tax Collector mails bills by November 1, with a discount of 4 percent for paying in November, 3 percent in December, 2 percent in January and 1 percent in February. Taxes are delinquent April 1.
CDD and HOA fees
Some newer parts of the city were built with a community development district (CDD) or a similar improvement district. A district borrows to build roads, drainage and parks, then repays the bonds through yearly assessments that appear on the property tax bill as non-ad valorem lines.
Districts created by City of Orlando ordinance include the Urban Orlando CDD (1999), the Story Park CDD (2015) and the Poitras East CDD (2018, about 1,061 acres). Each posts its budget and assessment schedule on its own site. To see whether a parcel is in a district, open its record on the Property Appraiser’s site and read the non-ad valorem lines on its tax bill.
Homeowners association dues are set by each association. Florida law requires an association to issue an estoppel certificate within 10 business days of a request, stating the regular assessment and anything owed (section 720.30851, Florida Statutes). We can request the association’s documents for a home you are considering.
Short-term rental rules
Inside the city, a short-term rental is a stay of less than 30 days, and a home can host one only as registered home sharing (City Code sections 58.989 and 58.990). The host, who is the owner or a tenant with the owner’s notarized permission, must live on site and be present. No more than half the bedrooms may be rented, one booking at a time.
Renting out an entire home for 1 to 29 days is marked “not permitted” on the City’s fact sheet. The code’s exceptions are a two-unit home whose owner lives in the other unit, and a commercial dwelling unit or hotel where the zoning allows one. Registration costs $275 the first year and $100 a year after that for an owner-occupied home. A home in a mandatory homeowners association needs the association’s approval letter.
Outside the city, Orange County’s zoning code applies. The county’s Zoning Division states that short-term rental (stays of 179 days or less) is permitted only in commercial and industrial districts or in planned developments that expressly allow it, that single-family transient rental (under 30 days) is permitted only in the R-3 district, and that both are prohibited in every other zoning district. That covers Dr. Phillips and other county addresses.
Renting an entire unit more than three times a year for under 30 days requires a vacation rental license from the Florida DBPR. Stays of six months or less owe Florida’s 6 percent sales tax plus any county surtax, and Orange County’s 6 percent tourist development tax. A home’s zoning and its association documents both have to allow the rental. For longer leases, see property management.
Schools
Orange County Public Schools is the district for the whole county, inside the city and out. School zones go by home address, so look up each address on the district’s Find My School page. The district notes that results do not show rezoning approved during the current school year, and it publishes a list of its charter schools.
Utilities
OUC, the Orlando Utilities Commission, provides electricity and water in Orlando, St. Cloud and parts of unincorporated Orange and Osceola counties. The county’s service map shows OUC as the water provider for most of the city and Orange County Utilities for the rest. Sewer is the City’s Water Reclamation Division in most of the city and Orange County Utilities elsewhere.
The City’s Solid Waste Division collects trash, recycling and yard waste once a week. Those accounts and the city sewer charge are billed on the OUC statement. Peoples Gas operates the natural gas system in Orlando; ask whether a given street has a gas main.
Getting around
From City Hall, OpenStreetMap routing puts Orlando International Airport about 13 miles and 24 minutes away by State Roads 408 and 436. Universal Orlando is about 9.7 miles and 16 minutes by Interstate 4, and the Magic Kingdom toll plaza about 23 miles and 35 minutes. These are times without traffic, and I-4 traffic can add a lot to them.
State Roads 408, 417, 429 and 528 are toll roads of the Central Florida Expressway Authority. Its cash lanes closed on September 30, 2025, so tolls are paid with E-PASS or another accepted transponder, or by Pay By Plate invoice.
SunRail, the commuter train, runs Monday to Friday over a 61-mile line with 17 stations, including LYNX Central and Church Street downtown. LYNX runs the buses, including the LYMMO lines that circulate downtown in their own lanes and FastLink routes to the airport, Medical City and Lake Nona. Brightline trains to Miami leave from the station next to Terminal C at Orlando International Airport.
Flood zones and insurance
FEMA’s flood map puts parts of the city in a Special Flood Hazard Area (Zone A, AE or AH), around its lakes and wetlands. Search any address on FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center before you make an offer.
Citizens Property Insurance, the state-created insurer, requires flood coverage on its policies that include wind: now for homes in a Special Flood Hazard Area and for dwelling coverage of $400,000 or more, and for every such policy from January 1, 2027. Citizens also says a wind mitigation inspection by an authorized inspector can qualify a policy for discounts. Ask the seller for any existing report.
Parks and things to do
- Lake Eola Park downtown has a sidewalk that circles the lake in 0.9 miles, and swan-shaped paddle boats for rent.
- Blue Jacket Park, about 76 acres, is at 2501 General Rees Avenue.
- Dr. P. Phillips Community Park, about 81 acres, is an Orange County park, not a city one.
Nearby guides: Windermere, Winter Garden and Kissimmee.