Florida Heartland

The Florida Heartland (also known as South Central Florida) is a region of Florida located to the north and west of Lake Okeechobee, composed of six inland, predominantly rural counties—DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, and Okeechobee. In 2020, The US Census Bureau recorded the population of the Florida Heartland region at 251,927. The most populous county in the region is Highlands County (2022 population of 105,618). Highlands County also contains the region's two largest cities - Avon Park (2022 population of 10,046) and Sebring (2022 population of 11,379).