Latest Census city estimates released May 14, 2026 · Population as of July 1, 2025 · Next city estimates scheduled for May 2027. Release schedule
Gainesville, Florida population is 148,671 as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimate), ranking #185 nationally and #13 in Florida. Cost of living runs 3.3% below the U.S. average (BEA RPP 2024); the four-person spending scenario corresponds to modeled gross income of $106,514/yr (TY2026 tax assumptions; partial scenario excluding unverified local income tax). This profile draws on 13 federal datasets covering population, housing, income, employment, climate, and risk.
148,671 people live in Gainesville as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025), the #185 largest U.S. city.
How big is Gainesville?
Gainesville covers 64.0 square miles of land and 1.2 square miles of water. Its population density is about 2,323 residents per square mile of land. Compare U.S. cities by land area →
Source detail: 2025 population
2025 population
Source agency
U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division
Dataset
Census PEP
Vintage / period
Vintage 2025 (Jul 1, 2025)
Native geography
Census PEP subcounty place records for the included city universe.
Transformation
Copied from POPESTIMATE2025, joined by Census GEOID, and used for ranks, filters, and city pages.
Known limit: Annual estimate, not a decennial count; each new PEP vintage can revise the prior series.
Population grew 5.3% from the April 2020 base to mid-2025.
Vintage 2025 · annual estimates
Recent history (V2025 series, 2020 base → 2025).
2020 base: 141,161 → 2025: 148,671 (+5.3%)
Year
Population
Reference date
2020 base
141,161
April 1, 2020
2020
142,298
July 1, 2020
2021
144,056
July 1, 2021
2022
145,775
July 1, 2022
2023
147,104
July 1, 2023
2024
147,890
July 1, 2024
2025
148,671
July 1, 2025
Earlier history (2010–2019, prior Census vintage)
These figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2019 release — a separate, earlier methodology. They’re shown here as historical context only; the 2010 and 2019 values aren’t directly comparable to the 2020–2025 series above.
Population grew 7.5% from the July 2010 estimate to 2019 (V2019 — see seam note below).
Gainesville is the #185 largest of 19,483 U.S. cities and #13 in Florida.
▸Show the analyst detail (9 rows)
Measure
Value
Note
2020 base
141,161
April 1, 2020 census base
5-yr change
+7,510
2020 base → 2025; within V2025
5-yr change %
+5.3%
within V2025 only
1-yr change
+781
2024 → 2025 estimate
1-yr change %
+0.5%
within V2025 only
Density
2,323
people per sq mi, land only
Land area
64
sq mi (2025 Gazetteer)
U.S. rank by population
#185
of 19,483 cities
State rank by population
#13
of 411 in Florida
What is the median household income in Gainesville?
Same-period U.S. benchmarks: household income $80,734 ± $166; per-capita income $44,673 ± $122. Margins are at 90% confidence. Comparison badges describe point estimates; they are not significance tests.
Median household income is 43% below the U.S. median ($46,195 vs $80,734); 30.8% live in poverty, 18.3 points above the 12.5% U.S. estimate.
Median household income$46,195
US
Gainesville: $46,195 — 43% below the US median of $80,734.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with ACS income data; censored rows retained in the distribution
Gainesville
$46,195
United States
$80,734
Income and poverty estimates for Gainesville from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year estimates (window 2020–2024). Every figure is shown with its 90% margin of error (MOE). Cells where the ± margin exceeds half the estimate are flagged "low precision." See methodology §12.
Measure
Estimate
± margin / note
Median household income
$46,195-42.8% vs US
±$2,205
Per capita income
$30,051-32.7% vs US
±$1,513
Population in poverty
30.8% ± 2.1 percentage points
share of population for whom poverty status is determined
Median home value is 26% below the U.S. median ($247,500 vs $332,700); median rent is 8% below ($1,296 vs $1,413); the ratio of median home value to median household income is 5.4× versus 4.1× nationally; this compares two distributions and does not measure an individual household's housing burden.
Median home value$247,500
US
Gainesville: $247,500 — 26% below the US median of $332,700.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with ACS home-value data; censored rows retained in the distribution
HUD 2-BR fair-market rent$1,493/mo
US
Gainesville: $1,493/mo — 39% above the US median of $1,077/mo.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with a HUD Fair Market Rent
Same-period U.S. benchmarks: home value $332,700 ± $236; gross rent $1,413 ± $2. Comparison badges describe estimates and do not establish statistical significance.
Poverty (Census SAIPE 2024, model-based), unemployment (BLS LAUS 2025 annual averages), and remote-work share (ACS 2020–2024) for Gainesville. Numbers are labeled at their native grain — place-grain when BLS publishes it, otherwise per-county. We do not compute population-weighted county averages. See methodology §13.
Measure
Value
Grain
Unemployment rate (annual avg)
5.1%
Gainesville (BLS sub-state LAUS)
Civilian labor force
73,738
2025 annual avg
Worked from home
14.7% ± 1.5 percentage points-2.4% vs US
share of workers 16+ working from home · U.S. share: 15.1% · ACS
County context — Gainesville sits in Alachua County:
County
Poverty rate
Median HH income
Unemployment
Alachua County
22.9%
$65,127
4.5%
Top industries by private employment — NAICS supersectors rolled up from Gainesville's linked county in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW, 2025 annual averages). See methodology §11.
#
Industry (NAICS supersector)
Private employment
Avg weekly wage
#1
Health care and social assistance (62)
29,909
$1,320 / wk
#2
Retail trade (44-45)
14,065
$705 / wk
#3
Accommodation and food services (72)
13,671
$521 / wk
#4
Professional and technical services (54)
6,903
$1,740 / wk
#5
Administrative and waste services (56)
6,400
$848 / wk
What workers earn in the Gainesville, FL metro — top occupations by employment plus six curated benchmarks (registered nurse, software developer, elementary teacher, general manager, retail salesperson, truck driver). Wages are metro-area medians from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). See methodology §25.
Registered Nurses is the largest tracked occupation in the Gainesville, FL metro (7,470 jobs, median $81,870/yr).
▸Show all 13 occupations
Occupation
Employment
Median annual
Median hourly
Fast Food and Counter Workers
4,780
$28,280
$13.60
Office and Administrative Support Workers, All Other
3,530
$31,750
$15.26
Cashiers
3,090
$29,710
$14.28
Nursing Assistants
2,890
$36,990
$17.79
Office Clerks, General
2,780
$44,950
$21.61
Stockers and Order Fillers
2,570
$35,920
$17.27
Waiters and Waitresses
2,540
$35,400
$17.02
Registered Nurses · benchmark
7,470
$81,870
$39.36
Retail Salespersons · benchmark
4,220
$31,830
$15.30
General and Operations Managers · benchmark
2,440
$93,220
$44.82
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education · benchmark
1,370
$56,430
—
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers · benchmark
All items run 3.3% below the U.S. average (RPP 96.7); utilities run 11.8% below (RPP 88.2) — the metro's utility affordability is the main driver.
Cost of living (RPP, all items)RPP 96.7
US
Gainesville's cost of living runs 3.3% below the U.S. average (RPP 96.7 vs 100).
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of metro/non-metro areas with a BEA price parity
BEA Regional Price Parity (all items)
RPP 96.7
−3.3% vs U.S. average · BEA 2024 · Gainesville, FL metro
HUD Fair Market Rent, 2-BR
$1,493/mo
FY2026 · Gainesville, FL HUD Metro FMR Area
State income tax (top marginal rate)
0%
no state income tax · TY2026
Four-person monthly spending scenario
$8,876/mo
3BR rent + food + childcare + taxes + transport · federal sources; excludes unverified local income tax
One-person monthly spending scenario
$3,530/mo
1BR rent + food + taxes + transport · federal sources; excludes unverified local income tax
Local income tax
—
Unverified and excluded from the spending scenario; not a verified zero
Household budget figures are arithmetic floors using current federal sources at the grains documented in methodology. Not a recommended salary, not a poverty threshold, not a composite score.
12.4% ± 1.1 percentage points foreign-born (U.S. share 14.1%); Spanish is the most-spoken language at home other than English (8.8% of residents 5+).
A quick read on Gainesville's residents — nativity and languages spoken at home shown above, from the ACS 5-Year 2020–2024. The full demographic breakdown (age, race and ethnicity, household types, and educational attainment, each with its margin of error) lives on the demographics page.
Hottest month: July (92°F avg high). Coldest: January (43°F avg low). Annual precipitation: 52.0 in.
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) for Gainesville from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. See methodology §15 for the gridded vs. station source path.
Average monthly highs & lows · 30-year normal (NOAA 1991–2020). Every number on this chart is an average.
bar = avg daily high → avg daily lowprecip in inches below each barprecip in millimeters below each bar
Natural-hazard exposure for Gainesville from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index (FEMA NRI December 2025 v1.20.0). NRI is an expected-annual-loss composite calibrated on 1996–2019 historical losses, published at the U.S. county grain. See methodology §17.
County
NRI composite
Rating
Top hazards
Alachua County
90.3
Relatively Moderate
Lightning 97.7 Very High · Hurricane 96.7 Relatively High · Wildfire 95.2 Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index · FEMA NRI December 2025 v1.20.0 · methodology →
How fast is home internet in Gainesville?
8 non-satellite ISPs serve the area; 72% of locations have gigabit-capable service per ISP filings.
Fixed broadband availability for Gainesville from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Data Collection (BDC), as of December 31, 2025. Every speed and provider count below is an ISP-reported advertised maximum — not measured throughput. Actual delivered speeds typically run 60–80% of advertised. See methodology §16.
Measure
Value
Note
Providers serving this city
8 + satellite
distinct ISPs, excluding satellite-only
Fiber providers
7
offer fiber-to-the-premises somewhere in the BDC
Units with ≥100/20 Mbps fixed
100.0%
share of broadband-serviceable units, ISP-reported max
Locations with ≥100 Mbps upload
71.7%
derived: max(fiber ≥100/20, gigabit). Fiber is symmetric; gigabit is ≥100 up by definition
Units with ≥1 Gbps fixed
71.7%
share of broadband-serviceable units, ISP-reported max
Total broadband-serviceable units
85,128
residential locations in the FCC Fabric (not households)
Source: FCC BDC · as of December 31, 2025 · methodology →
In-state context.
Gainesville sits at state rank #13 among 411 cities in Florida. Nearby in the state ranking:
Just above in the profiled set: Savannah, GA · #184 · 149,440 residents.
Just below in the profiled set: Pasadena, TX · #186 · 148,539 residents.
Quick travel facts for Gainesville
Quick travel facts.
Elevation
169 ft · at city centroid, from USGS 3D Elevation Program
Nearest scheduled-service airport
Gainesville Regional Airport(GNV) · 5 mi 7 km from city centroid
Best months to visit
Feb, Nov, Dec · months when the avg high sits in 65–80°F and precipitation is at or below the city's median monthly precip
Sources: elevation from USGS 3DEP · nearest airport from OurAirports CSV (OurAirports type=large/medium and scheduled_service=yes; not an FAA service classification) · best months derived from NOAA 1991-2020 normals · methodology →
Frequently asked questions about Gainesville.
How many people live in Gainesville, FL?
Gainesville has 148,671 residents as of July 1, 2025, making it the #185 largest city in the United States and #13 in Florida. Source: U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025.
Is Gainesville growing or shrinking?
Gainesville has grown 5.3% since the April 2020 census baseline, adding 7,510 residents, including a 0.5% increase from 2024 to 2025. Source: Census PEP Vintage 2025.
What was Gainesville's population in the 2020 census?
The GEOID for Gainesville is 1225175. These are the official datasets used by this profile's main data modules; click "methodology" for inclusion rules and the V2019 ↔ V2025 seam, or "source" for the raw publisher page. The headline population value above includes a source-detail disclosure with publisher, dataset, vintage, native geography, transformation, and caveat.
