Jury Pool Profile

Polk County, Florida

Republican +21 (2024)

Population: 760,961
Median household income: $63,644
Unemployment: 5.1%

Who sits on a jury?

Race & ethnicity

White alone 455,386 59.8%
Black or African American alone 112,450 14.8%
Asian alone 13,475 1.8%
American Indian / Alaska Native alone 2,811 0.4%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander alone 306 0.0%
Some other race alone 86,902 11.4%
Two or more races 89,631 11.8%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 211,002 27.7%

U.S. Census ACS 2023

Age distribution

Median age 39.6

Under 18 167,970 22.1%
18–24 65,521 8.6%
25–44 197,082 25.9%
45–64 180,757 23.8%
65 and over 149,631 19.7%

U.S. Census ACS 2023

Economic context

Local economy

Unemployment (12-mo): 5.1%; +0.98 pp vs. state
County GDP: $44.3B; 2.57% of state
Avg. annual pay: $55,697
Establishments: 17,281

U.S. BLS 2026M02 · U.S. BEA 2024 · BLS QCEW 2024

Top employment sectors

Average annual employment by supersector

Trade, transportation & utilities 72,999 28.0%
Education & health services 55,122 21.2%
Professional & business services 33,587 12.9%
Leisure & hospitality 26,164 10.0%
Manufacturing 19,343 7.4%
Construction 15,832 6.1%
Financial activities 14,102 5.4%
Public administration 12,623 4.8%
Other services 6,141 2.4%
Natural resources & mining 2,398 0.9%
Information 2,059 0.8%
Unclassified 222 0.1%

BLS QCEW 2024

Housing

Home ownership: 70.0%
Median gross rent: $1,272
Owner-occupied: 193,698
Renter-occupied: 82,945

U.S. Census ACS 2023

Political composition

Presidential results

2024 presidential · 348,922 votes cast

Republican 209,044 59.9%
Democratic 136,879 39.2%
Other / third-party 2,999 0.9%

Election results 2024

Languages, households, faith & health

Languages spoken at home

73.6% speak only English at home

Spanish 157,938 22.0%
French (incl. Cajun) 13,407 1.9%
Other Indo-European 6,514 0.9%
Other Asian/Pacific 2,724 0.4%
Tagalog 2,042 0.3%
Other 1,686 0.2%
German 1,311 0.2%
Chinese 1,192 0.2%
Arabic 998 0.1%
Slavic languages 952 0.1%
Vietnamese 773 0.1%
Korean 87 0.0%

U.S. Census ACS 2023

Household composition

Households: 276,643
Family households: 189,817; 68.6% of households
Married w/ children: 134,908
Single-mother households: 19,820
Veterans: 45,507; 7.7% of civilians 18+

U.S. Census ACS 2023

Religious composition

41.6% overall adherence rate

Evangelical Protestant 168,942 23.3%
Catholic 68,788 9.5%
Black Protestant 22,288 3.1%
Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 21,010 2.9%
Mainline Protestant 20,298 2.8%
Orthodox 305 0.0%

US Religion Census 2020

Health & education

Health insured: 87.0%
With a disability: 13.9%
Bachelor's or higher: 22.6%

U.S. Census ACS 2023

Court infrastructure

Trial court: 10th Judicial Circuit Court
Judges: 30 (Circuit Court judges per circuit (general civil + felony criminal jurisdiction); County Court judges (limited jurisdiction — claims ≤ $50,000, misdemeanors, traffic) separate. Vintage 2026 flcourts.gov; statutory judgeships are reauthorized annually by the Florida Supreme Court's certification of need under Fla. Stat. § 26.031 and may shift by ±1-2 between sessions. Counts for smaller rural circuits (3rd, 16th) are statutory minimums per § 26.031.)
Court seats: Bartow, Sebring, Wauchula

Court reference

Traffic safety context

Florida statewide totals, 2023 — not county-specific

Traffic fatalities: 157; 26.48 per 100k drivers
Fatal crashes: 143

NHTSA FARS 2023