Jefferson County, Florida

Jefferson County is located in the Florida panhandle, 25 miles east of Tallahassee, the Capitol of Florida. The population of 13,000 is predominately rural. Monticello, the county seat, has a population of about 3,000. Agriculture has been the traditional base of the economy, but the community is in transition. Almost  half of the non-farm workforce commutes outside the county for employment, many to professional, academic, state government, service and trade jobs in Tallahassee and access both Tallahassee and Thomasville, Georgia (20 miles north of Monticello) markets for hospitals and specialized health care, consumer durables, automobiles, sports and entertainment, and specialized retail purchases.

Aproximately 24% of county income is derived directly from agriculture and forestry,and about 25% of total county income comes from transfer payments. Unemployment is consistently below state averages, and over 90% of non-farm private employment is in small business. Per capita taxable sales are typically low when compared to state averages, which is indicative of expenditures outside the county. Per capita income is also consistantly low when compared with the State, at about two-thirds the Florida average.