Newly released data from the Florida Department of Health shows that Marion County’s inmate admission rate has surged significantly above the state average, cementing its position with the highest incarceration rate among Florida’s larger counties.
According to the 2025 health figures, Marion County documented an inmate admission rate of 308.7 per 100,000 population aged 19 years and older for 2025. By comparison, the statewide average for Florida sat at less than half of that total, tracking at 146.4 per 100,000 residents for the year 2025.
An analysis of the data shows that while Marion County trails behind several small, low-population rural counties in terms of sheer per-capita rates, it remains a stark outlier among larger, populated Florida counties. Of all the 17 counties that ranked higher in rate, only one had a population of over 100,000, and all the others had populations of under 61,000 residents.
For context, highly populated urban centers such as Miami-Dade County (56.0), Orange County (129.5), Hillsborough County (117.7), and Palm Beach County (83.8) all boast admission rates that are a fraction of Marion’s total. Nearby Alachua County sits at 134.6 per 100,000 residents…