Moving to
Medulla.

All Medulla data Compare Medulla

10,985people live here $70,802median household income▼ 12% below US $1,287median rent per monthNear US average $319,800median home valueNear US average

Medulla is an unincorporated community in Polk County, FL. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in Medulla

Medulla is an unincorporated community in Florida with rent below the national average, air quality that stays clean most of the year, a population that has grown fast since 2020, and schools with class sizes near the national average. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Medulla deals with hot summers, above-average rainfall, fewer dining and entertainment options than a bigger city, and a car-dependent commute, with few people using transit.

The good

Rent below the national average
Clean air
Fast-growing population
Average class sizes

The not so good

Hot summers
Above-average rainfall
Smaller place — fewer dining and entertainment options
Car-dependent — few commuters use transit

How Medulla compares

Median household income

Medulla$70,802

Florida avg$74,568

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Medulla$1,287

Florida avg$1,669

US$1,413

Median home value

Medulla$319,800

Florida avg$359,000

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Medulla

Based on Medulla's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$2,574

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $51,480 a year
45% of Medulla renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$63,960

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $31,980
Homes cost 4.5× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of livingNear US average

$1,287/mo median rent

Cost of living works in this city's favor. Median rent sits around $1,287 a month, nothing that raises eyebrows. Solid value overall. Home prices are reasonable, with a median around $319,800. Not a steal, but not intimidating either.

Median home value $319,800 · 45% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

4.8% county unemployment

Unemployment in Polk County is 4.8%, somewhat above the national average of 4.3%. Lining up work before the move is the safer route. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Polk County (county-wide)

Safety

187 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Medulla doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Polk County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs below the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 488/100k · Policed by Polk County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting aroundNear US average

26 min average commute

Commutes run about average, at 25.9 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 9 in 10 workers drive to work; 14% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

77%

Work from home

14%

Carpool

8.5%

Walk

0.3%

Other

0.3%

Climate

Summers are hot and humid, with highs regularly hitting 92°F, and winters are mild, with lows rarely dropping below 53°F. It's a wet climate overall.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▼ 13% below US

32% bachelor's degree or higher

Education levels run about average, with 32% college-educated. It's a mix of white-collar and blue-collar work, which can be an asset or a limitation depending on the field.

Schools

2 public schools inside the boundary

There are 2 public schools inside the boundary. The student-to-teacher ratio is 15:1, close to the national average of 16:1. Smaller class sizes are generally a positive sign for a district.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is De Soto National Memorial (51 miles away). There are 2 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Medulla's strongest points are rent below the national average and air quality that stays clean most of the year; the main tradeoffs are hot summers and above-average rainfall. A year of median rent ($1,287/mo) equals 22% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. Whether it fits comes down to the specifics: the neighborhood, the job, and what matters most in the move.

See all the data for Medulla →·All Florida cities →