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
One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. Its public schools are run by the Polk school district. The 2 public schools in Medulla teach 990 students between them.
| 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.
The top destinations are Lakeland (29%), Bartow (8%) and Tampa (4%). Only 2% of working residents stay in Medulla for work; the rest commute out. Employers in Medulla added 741 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 2,210. For half of commuters, work is under 11 miles away.
| 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
In Medulla, the FEMA risk score is 73 of 100. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Medulla once, in 2017. Nearly two fifths of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from hurricanes, followed by inland flooding at 38%. Since 1997, Medulla has seen 30 flood insurance claims paid out.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · 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°.
Snowfall is close to zero. Also worth knowing: in Medulla, the midsummer high is 92°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
A younger population than Florida as a whole
Medulla: 24% of residents are under 18. People 65 and older are 15% of residents (21% statewide); children under 18 are 24% of residents (20% statewide). The midpoint age for Medulla comes to 36.6 years. College graduates make up nearly a third of adults 25 and older, against 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
18% of adults report frequent mental distress in Medulla. CDC measures, 31 in all: Medulla beats Florida on 5 and trails on 5. In Medulla, 39% of adults have obesity, and 32% have high blood pressure.
| 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
On the market in Medulla: a median 92 days to sell. Its median rent is $1,287 a month. In Medulla, the typical sale closed at 98.2% of the list price.
| 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−.