Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Bartow grades D overall, 561st of 634 graded towns in Florida, mostly because of schools and health. Its schools rank behind 88% of the state's. Residents are less healthy than 77% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. In its favor, it has 12 miles of trail. 18% of the land in Bartow is conserved, above both Florida’s towns (3%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). Bartow has 11 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Benjamin Franklin Holland House and South Florida Military College.
Where Bartow beats most towns.
Census counts: 386 in 1880, 19,309 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 4 maps from 1949 on.
11 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Florida), ordered by how far Bartow is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Bartow. Close and well known come first.
Big draw37 mi Theme parkWalt Disney World Resort
11 mi Theme parkLegoland Florida
11 mi Theme parkCypress Gardens
39 mi Stadium & arenaBenchmark International Arena
38 mi Theme parkBusch Gardens Tampa4.0M visitors a year
15 mi GardenBok Tower GardensWalt Disney World Resort: Anthony Quintano from Westminster, United States, CC BY 2.0 · Legoland Florida: Jacob Montgomery, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cypress Gardens: Bruchey at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Benchmark International Arena: Miosotis Jade, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Busch Gardens Tampa: Wolle8ball, CC BY 3.0 · Bok Tower Gardens: Averette, CC BY 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Bartow, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 17, 2025.
Ordered by what stands out in Bartow.
Bartow draws workers from Lakeland and beyond, has more 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns and has seen reported crime fall by about half.
28,725 jobs are based in Bartow, 3.2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
For half of commuters, work is under 14 miles away. The top destinations are Lakeland (16%), Winter Haven (5%) and Orlando (3%). The share of workers in Bartow who work remotely from home: 7.9%.
| Bartow | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 20% | 5% | 8% |
| Work from home | 7.9% | 14% | 11% |
| Median household income | $68,000 | $73,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Polk school district. Of its 17 schools, three are listed below, each with the reason. Public school enrollment in Bartow: 3,169 students across 5 schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bartow Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 881 | C |
| Bartow Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,276 | C |
| Union AcademyTop results in townGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 382 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within FL on state tests and graduation
16% of adults smoke cigarettes in Bartow. On the CDC’s 31 measures, Bartow is ahead of Florida on 1 and behind on 15. In Bartow, two in five adults have obesity, and 19% report frequent mental distress.
| Bartow | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 37% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 32% | 35% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 8.1% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Bartow | FL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 8.2% | 9.1% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 16.4% | 12.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Reported crimes fell from 528 to 311 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The rate of reported violence for Bartow comes to 3.5 per 1,000 residents, where Florida’s towns sit at 2.1 and U.S. towns at 1.6. Its property crime rate is 10.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Bartow | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.5 per 1,000 residents | 2.1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 10.1 per 1,000 residents | 12.6 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The median property tax bill is $1,281, against $2,730 across Florida, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Bartow: 66% of households own their home. Its median rent is $1,142 a month. On the market in the town: a median 122 days to sell.
| Bartow | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,142 a month | $1,647 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 66% | 72% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The trail density for Bartow comes to 0.2 miles per square mile. 2 parks and preserves cover 5 acres locally.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Nye Jordan Park | — | 4 |
| 2. Fort Blount Park | 0.1 mi | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The Bartow 1se weather station records that about 121 days a year reach 90°, more than in 98% of U.S. towns. January nights average 49.4°, milder than in 98% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 92.3°.
The July high in Bartow is 92°F. Snowfall is close to zero.
| Bartow | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 49°F | 51°F | 22°F |
| July high | 92°F | 91°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected damage from storms and floods is higher here than in 67% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects in Bartow, 44% come from hurricanes and 29% from inland flooding. Federal aid has come to Bartow households in 10 declared disasters; the latest was in 2024.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
4 within 15 miles of the center of Bartow
About 6 of every 100 Bartow residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Florida.
17,298 counted in 2010 and 19,309 in 2020; an estimated 23,617 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 20% since 2020, after 11.6% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
11 places in Bartow on the National Register of Historic Places.
24 notable people were born in Bartow.
City in Florida, United States
Bartow ( BAR-toh) is a city and the county seat of Polk County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1851 as Fort Blount, the city was renamed in honor of Francis S. Bartow, the first brigade commander of the Confederate Army to die in combat during the American Civil War. It is part of the Lakeland−Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 787,404, as of July 1, 2022. According to the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 19,309. Located near the source of the Peace River, Bartow is approximately 39 miles (63 km) east of Tampa, Florida and 50 miles (80 km) southwest of the Greater Orlando area. The city is near the center of "Lightning Alley" and ha…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Bartow.
| Town | FL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bartow | #561 | D | B− | C− | D | C− |
| Highland City | #479 | C− | D | — | D | B |
| Homeland | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Highland City reports no FBI crime data of its own. Homeland isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Bartow with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Bartow grades D overall, better than 7% of U.S. towns and #561 of 634 in Florida. It grades C− for health, C− for safety and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 4.2 years of the area's median household income ($65,978 across the Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
24 notable people were born here, including Michael Tomasello and Tony Bradley.
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