Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 34,992 people, the town was settled in 1935.
Plenty in its favour, and one clear drawback. With a B overall, Merritt Island is better than 55% of U.S. towns and ranks 125th of 634 in Florida. Its strongest is schools (B+) — its schools rank ahead of 74% of Florida towns. Health is a strength too: residents are healthier than 72% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. What counts against it is cost of living (C−): the typical home is worth about $430K, 5.5 years of the Palm Bay metro’s $78K median household income. It also trails on hazard risk — FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 86% of U.S. communities, with hurricanes at the top. This Florida town has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Dr. George E. Hill House and J.R. Field Homestead.
Figures: schools, state test and graduation results · health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · FEMA National Risk Index · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Merritt Island beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Lewis Carroll Elementary School | PK–6 | 634 |
| Tropical Elementary School | PK–6 | 569 |
| Robert L. Stevenson Elementary School | K–6 | 481 |
Where Merritt Island’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Florida), ordered by how far Merritt Island is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 32,886 in 1990, 34,518 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 2005 and 3 maps from 1949 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Merritt Island. Close and well known come first.
19 mi Ancient siteWindover Archaeological Site
15 mi MuseumKennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
38 mi Stadium & arenaAcrisure Bounce House
15 mi LandmarkSpace Mirror Memorial
6 mi Zoo & aquariumBrevard Zoo
15 mi MuseumUnited States Astronaut Hall of FameWindover Archaeological Site: ROY KLOTZ MD, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex: Bill White, Public domain · Acrisure Bounce House: DampFrijoles, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Space Mirror Memorial: Seth Buckley, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Brevard Zoo: Rusty Clark from merritt usland FLA, CC BY 2.0 · United States Astronaut Hall of Fame: Håkan Dahlström from Malmö, Sweden, CC BY 2.0
Merritt Island is unincorporated, so Brevard 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Merritt Island.
Merritt Island has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns and has less no health insurance than most of Florida.
Expected losses in Merritt Island break down as 77% from hurricanes and 14% from inland flooding. 213 flood insurance claims have been paid here since 1978. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Merritt Island after 11 declared disasters, most recently in 2024.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Brevard school district. Three of its 8 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. Public school enrollment in Merritt Island: 2,963 students across 6 schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Carroll Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 634 | A |
| Merritt Island High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,446 | C+ |
| Edgewood Jr./Sr. High SchoolTop results in townGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 942 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within FL on state tests and graduation
The share of residents in Merritt Island who live below the poverty line: 7.4%. Only a tenth of working residents stay in Merritt Island for work; the rest commute out. 19% of workers do their job from home in the town, above both the Florida town median (14%) and the median of U.S. towns (11%). The town’s middle household income comes in at $94,000.
| Merritt Island | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 19% | 14% | 11% |
| Median household income | $94,000 | $73,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 7.4% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 10% | 5% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its widest gap with Florida is no health insurance: 9.1% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 15.9% statewide.
Nearly two in five adults have high blood pressure in Merritt Island, above both Florida’s towns (37%) and U.S. towns (35%). Merritt Island: nearly a third of adults sleep under 7 hours. On the CDC’s 31 measures, Merritt Island is ahead of Florida on 13 and behind on 2. Two figures for adults locally: 15% report frequent mental distress, 19% have been diagnosed with depression.
| Merritt Island | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 37% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 23% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Merritt Island | FL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 9.1% | 15.9% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 8.3% | 13.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.8% | 9.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
There are 14 miles of trail across 10 parks and preserves. Ulumay Sanctuary, at 716 acres with 2.6 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Parks and preserves in Merritt Island: 10, covering 899 acres.
| Merritt Island | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.2% | 3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ulumay Sanctuary | 2.6 mi | 716 |
| 2. Veteran's Memorial Park | 0.7 mi | 65 |
| 3. Rotary Park Merritt Island | 0.5 mi | 39 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
January nights average 53.3°, milder than in 99% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 89.6°. The Melbourne Wfo weather station, 14 miles away, records that about 76 days a year reach 90°: more than most of the country, but fewer than 89% of Florida places with climate records.
Its January low comes in at 53°F. It almost never snows.
| Merritt Island | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 53°F | 51°F | 22°F |
| July high | 90°F | 91°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Merritt Island’s age of the median resident is 50.2 years. People 65 and older are 28% of residents (21% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 16% of residents (21% statewide). Just over two in five adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in the town.
| Merritt Island | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 50.2 years | 42.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 28% | 20% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 17% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 41% | 31% | 29% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.6 points. Across Florida, 50.9% of residents are women. Median age: women 51.9, men 48.9.
| Merritt Island | FL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.7% | 10.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.5% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6% | 8.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.5% | 12.7% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.4% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 16.4% | 13.4% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 14.6% | 11.7% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 13% | 9.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.8% | 10.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 20.6% | 27.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.4% | 18.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12.2% | 10.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.7% | 21.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 17.3% | 12.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Homes in Merritt Island are typically worth about $430,000, up 0.8% in a year, 15% above the Florida typical home. Among households here, 80% own their home. On the market in the town: a median 62 days to sell.
| Merritt Island | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 80% | 72% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,441 a month | $1,647 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1 within 15 miles of the center of Merritt Island
About 5 of every 100 Merritt Island residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Florida.
2 places in Merritt Island on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 notable people were born in Merritt Island.
Census-designated place in Florida, United States
Merritt Island is a peninsula in Brevard County, Florida, United States, located on the eastern Florida coast, along the Atlantic Ocean. It is also the name of an unincorporated town in the central and southern parts of the island and a census-designated place (CDP). The population was 34,518 at the 2020 census, down from 34,743 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Palm Bay–Melbourne–Titusville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center is located on Merritt Island to the north of the town, and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is located north of the space center. The central part of Merritt Island, previously known as Merritt City, is home to the ma…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Merritt Island.
| Town | FL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merritt Island | #125 | B | C− | — | B+ | B+ |
| Cocoa Beach | #229 | C+ | D | — | B+ | A− |
| South Patrick Shores | #43 | B+ | D | — | B+ | A |
| North Merritt Island | #249 | C+ | C− | — | B+ | A− |
| Indian Harbour Beach | #63 | B+ | D | B+ | B+ | A− |
| Rockledge | #181 | B− | C− | — | B+ | B+ |
| Cocoa | #466 | C− | C+ | D | B+ | C |
| Melbourne | #245 | C+ | C− | — | B+ | B− |
Merritt Island, Cocoa Beach, South Patrick Shores, North Merritt Island, Rockledge and Melbourne report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Merritt Island with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Merritt Island grades B overall, better than 55% of U.S. towns and #125 of 634 in Florida. It grades B+ for health and B+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
7 notable people were born here, including Keith Notary and Taylor Jordan.
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