Rural Area Information

Like most regions, Northwest Florida’s development encompasses urban, suburban and rural areas. Although the majority of the population resides in urban and suburban communities, geographically the region is mainly rural. Northwest Florida includes three urban metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) that have the amenities, infrastructure and feel of a typical urban environment: Pensacola, Panama City and Tallahassee. Unlike most regions, where the suburbs typically develop around urban cores, Northwest Florida’s suburban neighborhoods stretch along the Gulf of Mexico from Pensacola through Panama City. This area also includes the region’s fourth MSA, Fort Walton Beach, which feels much more suburban than urban.

The balance of the region is rural, characterized by picturesque small towns, rivers, lakes, bays, state and national parks, and vast green stretches of lush pine forests. This natural environment sustains farms, hunting and fishing lodges, and the kind of folks who meet you with open arms and warm Southern hospitality – this is Old Florida and very different from most outsiders’ image of the state. Eco-tourism is a strong attraction for visitors to these inland rural areas while more traditional tourism characterizes the industry along the rural Gulf Coast.

Dissimilar to much of rural America, Northwest Florida’s rural communities are growing. All 16 counties in the region have a long history of population growth and Santa Rosa, Wakulla, and Walton counties have consistently made the top 100 Fastest Growing Counties in America list during this decade.

Historically, the main industries in the rural area were timber, lumber, furniture manufacturing, textiles, pulp and paper, commercial fishing and farming. Although the timber industry remains an economic driver for the region, the pulp and paper and textile industries are in decline, a trend occurring across the Southeast. Commercial fishing is a thriving industry along the Gulf Coast, including Apalachicola Bay which supplies the U.S. with world-class oysters.

Northwest Florida represents one of the world’s largest plantation pine forests. Timber is the dominant agricultural crop in the region and plantation pine forests are planted and harvested like any other crop. This abundance of good quality soft pine has caught the attention of the world’s renewable fuels industry. Green Circle Bio Energy, a Swedish-owned LLC, is operating the world’s largest wood pellet plant here. A technological marvel, the plant began operations in 2008 and is exporting 100% of its production through Port Panama City to Europe as a green fuel to mix with coal for electric power generation. Electric power generation, cellulosic ethanol conversion and pine wood as a renewable energy resource are revitalizing Northwest Florida’s timber industry.

Interstate 10 transverses the rural countryside of nine of Northwest Florida’s sixteen counties. With its many undeveloped interchanges and emerging industrial parks, rural Northwest Florida is ripe for distribution and transportation activities, as well as manufacturing operations. Special-use industrial parks are gaining popularity across the region, including distribution, construction services and intermodal parks. Three short line railroads connect the seaports to the CSX, Norfolk Southern, and Burlington Northern Railroads while the CSX Railroad parallels Interstate 10 through the rural areas, providing excellent access for the movement of freight to the Midwest and Northeast markets as well as to international destinations.

Although unemployment is low in the rural counties, the workforce represents a skilled labor pool that has seen its earning power decrease as traditional manufacturing jobs have been replaced by employment opportunities in the service sector. Eight of the region’s rural counties are served by Opportunity Florida, a sister economic development organization to Florida’s Great Northwest that focuses on strengthening the existing businesses within Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Liberty and Washington counties.