MedullaFL
A town of 10,985, settled in 1881.
Is Medulla a good place to live?
Medulla grades D overall, 545th among Florida's 634 graded towns, mostly because of schools. Its schools rank behind 88% of the state's. What it does well: the median household earns $71K. On the outdoors, just 25 of Florida’s 779 towns do worse. Medulla’s January low is 49°F, against 51°F in Florida’s towns and 22°F across U.S. towns.
Medulla has grown 22% from 2010 to 2020
8,892 counted in 2010 and 10,871 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
How Medulla grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Florida), ordered by how far Medulla is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Walt Disney World Resort and 42 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Medulla. Close and well known come first.
Big draw39 mi Theme parkWalt Disney World Resort
Big draw32 mi Stadium & arenaRaymond James Stadium
29 mi Stadium & arenaBenchmark International Arena
28 mi Theme parkBusch Gardens Tampa4.0M visitors a year
18 mi Theme parkLegoland Florida
18 mi Theme parkCypress GardensPhoto credits
Walt Disney World Resort: Anthony Quintano from Westminster, United States, CC BY 2.0 · Raymond James Stadium: NASA, Public domain · Benchmark International Arena: Miosotis Jade, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Busch Gardens Tampa: Wolle8ball, CC BY 3.0 · Legoland Florida: Jacob Montgomery, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cypress Gardens: Bruchey at English Wikipedia, Public domain
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Moving to Medulla: who provides what
Medulla is unincorporated, so Polk County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 17, 2025.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Medulla.
Medulla has more 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns and has added half again as many jobs in ten years.
For schools, Medulla earns a D
Its public schools are run by the Polk school district. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| James W. Sikes Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 502 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within FL on state tests and graduation
Most of Medulla’s workers commute out: the town has 0.4 jobs for each of them
Jobs based here grew from 1,469 in 2013 to 2,210.
Most working residents leave Medulla for work: only 2% work in town. Since 2013, Medulla has added 741 jobs, to 2,210 in 2023. The top destinations are Lakeland (29%), Bartow (8%) and Tampa (4%).
| Medulla | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 2.2% | 5% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 8.7% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $71,000 | $73,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Medulla faces a high natural-hazard risk, led by hurricanes
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 73% of U.S. communities. Since 1997, 30 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Medulla.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Medulla has mild winters and hot summers
The Lakeland 2 weather station records that about 119 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 91.6°.
Medulla has warm winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Medulla’s July high is 92°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Younger than Florida overall
People 65 and older are 15% of residents (21% statewide); children under 18 are 24% of residents (20% statewide). The median age in Medulla is 36.6 years. 32% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 34% across Florida.
| Medulla | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 36.6 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 15% | 20% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 24% | 20% | 22% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±8.5 points. Across Florida, 50.9% of residents are women.
| Medulla | FL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.8% | 10.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 13.8% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.7% | 8.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16.5% | 12.7% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.9% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.5% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.6% | 13.4% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.1% | 11.7% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.2% | 9.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 10.6% | 10.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 26.1% | 27.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.9% | 18.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 13.8% | 10.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.8% | 21.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.7% | 12.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Medulla is less healthy than 52% of U.S. towns
Medulla beats the Florida average on 5 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 5. 41% of Medulla adults sleep under 7 hours.
| Medulla | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 37% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 32% | 35% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 8.1% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 37% | 35% |
| What stands out | Medulla | FL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 5.9% | 7.5% |
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 11% | 13.5% |
| More adults with obesity | 38.7% | 31.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
A home in Medulla sells for about $380K at the median
66% of households own their home in Medulla.
| Medulla | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 66% | 72% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,287 a month | $1,647 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Medulla
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Medulla
About 6 of every 100 Medulla residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Florida.
98% of working residents leave Medulla for work
Where Medulla’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Medulla
Census-designated place in Florida, United States
Medulla is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in western Polk County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area. Medulla is an affluent residential community located south of the Lakeland city limits, and north of the Mulberry city limits. Medulla neighbors Lakeland Highlands, and together the two communities make up much of what is known as south (unincorporated) Lakeland. As of the 2020 census, Medulla had a population of 10,871. The area is addressed to Lakeland, with zip codes 33811 and 33813.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 5.7 sq mi
- Elevation
- 161 ft
- Area code
- 863
Medulla’s neighbors
3 towns share a border with Medulla.
| Town | FL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medulla | #545 | D | C− | — | D | B− |
| Lakeland Highlands | #325 | C | C− | — | D | A− |
| Willow Oak | #621 | D− | C | — | D | C− |
| Fuller Heights | #580 | D− | C | — | D | C |
Medulla, Lakeland Highlands, Willow Oak and Fuller Heights report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Medulla with a neighbor →
Questions about Medulla
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Medulla, FL a good place to live?
Medulla grades D overall, better than 10% of U.S. towns and #545 of 634 in Florida. It grades B− for health and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Medulla, FL expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $320,000, 15% below the Florida typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.