Annual Mobility Report 2026

Understanding the trends and conditions occurring in North Florida will allow planners and engineers to prioritize resources more effectively as part of the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization’s (TPO) Congestion Management Process. The data presented are an essential part of making evidence-based decisions for mobility investments in North Florida and contributing to the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) Target Zero initiative to have no deaths and serious injuries across the statewide transportation system (Target Zero Link). The data presented focuses on Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties for the years 2020-2025 when available.

1 People

1.1 Population

North Florida’s population grew by 9.7%, or 156,244 people, between 2021 and 2025. This growth outpaced the statewide growth of 6.3%.

From 2024 to 2025, North Florida’s population growth rate was 2.23% per year, which outpaced both the statewide growth rate (1.58% per year) and the national growth rate (0.5% per year).

Population growth increases the need for transportation infrastructure and services.

There is no benchmark for population growth, but increases impact the demand for mobility. The graph below shows the population of the four North Florida TPO counties by year using the “Countywide, Unincorporated and Incorporated Totals - Census Counts and Intercensal Estimates” data set from Office of Economic and Demographic Research. This data set is originally provided by the Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

1.2 Licensed Drivers

There are 128,832 (or 10.5%) more licensed drivers in North Florida in 2025 than 2021. About 96% of the eligible driving population (aged 16 and up) in the region is a licensed driver. This figure was calculated by dividing the total number of licensed drivers by the total eligible driving population for the region using data from both the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research.

There is no benchmark for licensed drivers, but increases impact the demand for mobility. The graph below shows the number of licensed drivers in the four North Florida counties by year.

1.3 Underserved Populations

Transportation planning plays a crucial role in addressing socioeconomic disparities. Executive Order 12898, issued in 1994 by President Bill Clinton, aimed to address environmental justice in minority populations and low-income communities. The order required federal agencies to identify and address disproportionately high and adverse health or environmental effects of policies on minority and low-income populations.

Equitable transportation systems can significantly enhance the quality of life for these marginalized groups by ensuring access to essential services, employment opportunities, and education. This can be achieved by prioritizing the needs of low-income and minority communities by focusing on accessibility, safety, community engagement, and sustainability.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed a environmental justice mapping and screening tool named EJSCREEN to identify areas that may have higher environmental burdens and vulnerable populations. One of the environmental justice measures within EJSCREEN is the Demographic Index, which is a combination of percent low-income and percent minority for each block group within a region. The formula for the Demographic Index is simply the average of these 2 percentiles.

The map below shows the Demographic Index for each block group in the North Florida region.

Source: EPA Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool