Hot summers and hurricane seasons have not moved St. Augustine, which claims to be the oldest continuously occupied European-founded city in the continental US, settled by the Spanish in 1565. It is a small city of about 16,000 people, and the old core still has narrow streets, a stone fort called Castillo de San Marcos and the busy pedestrian stretch of St. George Street.
Visitors spend their days at the fort, the lighthouse, Flagler College and the Lightner Museum, then head across the Bridge of Lions to the beaches on Anastasia Island. In winter the Nights of Lights fills downtown with millions of bulbs. Locals mostly avoid the tourist core on weekends. The tradeoffs are water and crowds. Hurricanes and storm surge have flooded downtown more than once (Matthew in 2016, Ian and Nicole in 2022), and nuisance flooding is common. Summers are hot and buggy. Housing is moderately priced for Florida, and crime is mostly petty theft.
Cities with a similar character, anywhere on the site.
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- Known as
- Nation's Oldest City; Ancient City; Oldest continuously occupied European-established city in the continental US; Nights of Lights city
- Founded
- 1565 founded by Spanish admiral Pedro Menendez de Aviles; 1822 incorporated as a US municipality
- Languages
- English; Spanish; smaller communities speaking Portuguese and German
- Airports
- Northeast Florida Regional (UST), about 3 miles north (general aviation, no scheduled airline service); Jacksonville International (JAX), about 45 miles north; Daytona Beach International (DAB), about 55 miles south; Orlando International (MCO), about 105 miles southwest
- Tipping
- Restaurants 18-20%; bars $1-2 per drink; taxis and rideshare 15-20%; hotel housekeeping $3-5 per night; bellhops $2-5 per bag; tour guides 10-20%; counter service optional; horse-drawn carriage and trolley drivers 10-15%
About this data
Population is Census Vintage 2025 (July 1, 2025) via QuickFacts (16,141); land area 9.52 sq mi from Census; median value and rent from Census ACS 2020-2024; median sale price from Redfin (June 2026). Metro figure 348,336 is the St. Johns County 2025 estimate from the Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research; the county belongs to the Jacksonville MSA (1,802,177 in 2025, anchored by Jacksonville), so the value is not the full MSA. Elevation, coordinates, event months (some not verified as current), hotel ranges, tipping, cost-of-living index, airport distances and crime are approximate or general knowledge and not verified in this pass. URLs found via search but not load-tested.
