Autism in Florida Schools, County by County
From 2021-22 to 2025-26, the number of public school students with autism as their exceptional student education eligibility rose 44% in Palm Beach County, 34% in Hillsborough, 46% in Broward and 74% in St. Lucie, compared with 39% statewide, according to Florida Department of Education data.
By Hope Center for Behavior Change · Published November 12, 2026 · Every figure checked against its source on November 12, 2026
Key numbers
- 42.3students per 1,000 enrolled in Broward County schools had autism eligibility in 2025-26, the highest of 67 county districtsFLDOE, Membership in Programs for Exceptional Students, Survey 2
- 5,853students with autism eligibility in Palm Beach County schools, 2025-26, up from 4,060 in 2021-22FLDOE, Membership in Programs for Exceptional Students, Survey 2
- 4,809in Hillsborough County schools, 2025-26, up from 3,590 in 2021-22FLDOE, Membership in Programs for Exceptional Students, Survey 2
- +74%in St. Lucie County since 2021-22, the 3rd-fastest growth of 66 counties with counts in both yearsFLDOE, Membership in Programs for Exceptional Students, Survey 2
- 62 of 66county districts where the count rose from 2021-22 to 2025-26FLDOE, Membership in Programs for Exceptional Students, Survey 2
Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Broward and St. Lucie
Hope Center works with families in these four counties. Florida’s school districts follow county lines, so each county is one district, with its charter schools included.
Source: FLDOE, Membership in Programs for Exceptional Students, Survey 2 and FLDOE, Membership in Florida Public Schools, Survey 2; rates are our calculation. A school’s eligibility decision is not a medical diagnosis, and this is not a prevalence rate.
| Area | 2021-22 | 2025-26 | Change | Per 1,000 enrolled, 2021-22 | Per 1,000 enrolled, 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Beach County | 4,060 | 5,853 | +1,793 (+44.2%) | 21.4 | 31.7 |
| Hillsborough County | 3,590 | 4,809 | +1,219 (+34.0%) | 16.0 | 22.5 |
| Broward County | 6,835 | 9,990 | +3,155 (+46.2%) | 26.7 | 42.3 |
| St. Lucie County | 707 | 1,229 | +522 (+73.8%) | 16.2 | 25.1 |
| Florida (all districts) | 51,448 | 71,688 | +20,240 (+39.3%) | 18.2 | 25.7 |
- Palm Beach County: 4,060 students with autism eligibility in 2021-22 and 5,853 in 2025-26, 1,793 more (up 44%), while the district’s total enrollment changed by -2.6%. That is 31.7 per 1,000 students enrolled, the fourth-highest of the 67 county districts.Source: FLDOE, Membership in Programs for Exceptional Students, Survey 2. Period: 2021-22 to 2025-26
- Hillsborough County: 3,590 in 2021-22 and 4,809 in 2025-26, 1,219 more (up 34%); enrollment changed by -4.8%. At 22.5 per 1,000 enrolled it ranked 28th of 67, below the state figure of 25.7.Source: FLDOE, Membership in Programs for Exceptional Students, Survey 2. Period: 2021-22 to 2025-26
- Broward County: 6,835 in 2021-22 and 9,990 in 2025-26, 3,155 more (up 46%), while enrollment changed by -7.7%. Its 42.3 per 1,000 enrolled was the highest of the 67 county districts in 2025-26.Source: FLDOE, Membership in Programs for Exceptional Students, Survey 2. Period: 2021-22 to 2025-26
- St. Lucie County: 707 in 2021-22 and 1,229 in 2025-26, 522 more (up 74%), the 3rd-fastest percent growth of the 66 counties with counts in both years. Enrollment there grew by 12.3%, and the rate rose from 16.2 to 25.1 per 1,000.Source: FLDOE, Membership in Programs for Exceptional Students, Survey 2. Period: 2021-22 to 2025-26
The statewide picture
- Florida public schools counted 51,448 students with autism eligibility in 2021-22 and 71,688 in 2025-26, up 39%. Per 1,000 students enrolled, that went from 18.2 to 25.7, while total enrollment changed by -1.4%.Source: FLDOE, Membership in Programs for Exceptional Students, Survey 2. Period: 2021-22 to 2025-26
- The count rose in 62 of the 66 county districts with counts in both years. Total enrollment fell in 46 of the 67.Source: FLDOE, Membership in Programs for Exceptional Students, Survey 2. Period: 2021-22 to 2025-26
- The fastest percent growth was in Sumter County (107%, from 85 to 176 students) and Polk County (83%). In 2025-26, the highest rates per 1,000 enrolled were in Broward (42.3), Union (35.1), Wakulla (32.8), then Palm Beach (31.7).Source: FLDOE, Membership in Programs for Exceptional Students, Survey 2. Period: 2021-22 to 2025-26
Every Florida county
Counties are listed A to Z. FLDOE hides counts under 10 to protect student privacy, shown here as “fewer than 10”. The full five-year series, with enrollment, is in the CSV.
| County | 2021-22 | 2025-26 | Change | Per 1,000 enrolled, 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alachua | 468 | 740 | +58.1% | 27.0 |
| Baker | 42 | 66 | +57.1% | 14.5 |
| Bay | 473 | 552 | +16.7% | 20.3 |
| Bradford | 55 | 67 | +21.8% | 23.7 |
| Brevard | 1,405 | 1,762 | +25.4% | 24.6 |
| Broward | 6,835 | 9,990 | +46.2% | 42.3 |
| Calhoun | 29 | 30 | +3.4% | 15.1 |
| Charlotte | 388 | 466 | +20.1% | 27.2 |
| Citrus | 205 | 303 | +47.8% | 20.1 |
| Clay | 619 | 1,023 | +65.3% | 26.5 |
| Collier | 604 | 884 | +46.4% | 18.8 |
| Columbia | 144 | 183 | +27.1% | 20.0 |
| DeSoto | 60 | 59 | -1.7% | 14.6 |
| Dixie | 20 | 30 | +50.0% | 12.2 |
| Duval | 2,209 | 3,006 | +36.1% | 23.6 |
| Escambia | 674 | 930 | +38.0% | 26.1 |
| Flagler | 224 | 269 | +20.1% | 20.2 |
| Franklin | 25 | 29 | +16.0% | 25.0 |
| Gadsden | 55 | 48 | -12.7% | 10.9 |
| Gilchrist | 30 | 37 | +23.3% | 13.2 |
| Glades | 23 | 39 | +69.6% | 21.1 |
| Gulf | 26 | 26 | +0.0% | 14.0 |
| Hamilton | 17 | 20 | +17.6% | 12.7 |
| Hardee | 67 | 68 | +1.5% | 15.3 |
| Hendry | 255 | 367 | +43.9% | 26.4 |
| Hernando | 392 | 495 | +26.3% | 21.0 |
| Highlands | 172 | 230 | +33.7% | 19.7 |
| Hillsborough | 3,590 | 4,809 | +34.0% | 22.5 |
| Holmes | 19 | 30 | +57.9% | 10.5 |
| Indian River | 244 | 382 | +56.6% | 23.3 |
| Jackson | 113 | 113 | +0.0% | 19.9 |
| Jefferson | 11 | 17 | +54.5% | 25.1 |
| Lafayette | 17 | 18 | +5.9% | 16.2 |
| Lake | 838 | 1,066 | +27.2% | 22.4 |
| Lee | 1,412 | 1,759 | +24.6% | 17.4 |
| Leon | 593 | 861 | +45.2% | 27.8 |
| Levy | 78 | 119 | +52.6% | 21.9 |
| Liberty | fewer than 10 | 16 | n/a | 13.1 |
| Madison | 31 | 37 | +19.4% | 18.2 |
| Manatee | 695 | 1,106 | +59.1% | 20.5 |
| Marion | 674 | 1,112 | +65.0% | 24.1 |
| Martin | 349 | 442 | +26.6% | 24.5 |
| Miami-Dade | 7,046 | 9,935 | +41.0% | 30.9 |
| Monroe | 134 | 163 | +21.6% | 18.9 |
| Nassau | 171 | 228 | +33.3% | 18.6 |
| Okaloosa | 552 | 711 | +28.8% | 22.9 |
| Okeechobee | 143 | 166 | +16.1% | 28.0 |
| Orange | 3,277 | 4,642 | +41.7% | 23.0 |
| Osceola | 1,361 | 1,533 | +12.6% | 20.6 |
| Palm Beach | 4,060 | 5,853 | +44.2% | 31.7 |
| Pasco | 1,285 | 1,951 | +51.8% | 22.6 |
| Pinellas | 1,667 | 2,102 | +26.1% | 25.1 |
| Polk | 1,398 | 2,558 | +83.0% | 22.1 |
| Putnam | 165 | 196 | +18.8% | 20.0 |
| Santa Rosa | 557 | 692 | +24.2% | 24.1 |
| Sarasota | 667 | 914 | +37.0% | 20.3 |
| Seminole | 1,182 | 1,330 | +12.5% | 21.4 |
| St. Johns | 745 | 1,077 | +44.6% | 20.5 |
| St. Lucie | 707 | 1,229 | +73.8% | 25.1 |
| Sumter | 85 | 176 | +107.1% | 16.8 |
| Suwannee | 80 | 93 | +16.2% | 15.9 |
| Taylor | 40 | 50 | +25.0% | 21.0 |
| Union | 58 | 74 | +27.6% | 35.1 |
| Volusia | 1,363 | 1,703 | +24.9% | 28.2 |
| Wakulla | 114 | 167 | +46.5% | 32.8 |
| Walton | 136 | 205 | +50.7% | 17.0 |
| Washington | 58 | 66 | +13.8% | 20.9 |
What this means for families
- School eligibility has its own rules. A school team decides ESE eligibility under Florida’s rule, which is separate from a doctor’s or psychologist’s diagnosis. A diagnosis does not by itself make a child eligible, and a child can be eligible without one. Our ESE autism eligibility guide explains both paths.
- Many families in your county are going through this too. Palm Beach schools alone added 1,793 students with autism eligibility in four years. Each county has free local help, listed in our guides for Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Broward and St. Lucie.
- Private ABA and school services are separate. School services come through your child’s IEP. If your child also gets ABA from a private provider, each district has its own process for that provider to work at school: see Palm Beach, Hillsborough and Broward.
- A county’s rate is not a grade. A higher or lower rate says how many students a district has identified, not how well it serves them, and not how common autism is there.
Method, sources and limits
We read each county’s count of students in FLDOE’s autism spectrum disorder (ASD) category from FLDOE’s “Membership in Programs for Exceptional Students” file for each school year, and its total enrollment from “Membership in Florida Public Schools”. Both are taken from Survey 2, FLDOE’s October count. Rates per 1,000 enrolled and percent changes are our calculations, rounded to one decimal place; headline percentages are rounded to whole numbers. We re-checked the headline figures against the source files on November 12, 2026. The script that builds every number on this page, and the source files, are kept with the page’s code.
- How FLDOE describes the count: the wording differs by year. The 2021-22 and 2022-23 autism sheets say students are counted using both their primary and their other exceptionality; the 2023-24 and 2024-25 sheets have no note on this; the 2025-26 sheet is labeled by primary exceptionality. The year-by-year statewide counts show no break where the wording changes: each year adds a similar number of students, and FLDOE presented the same totals to the ABA Task Force as one series.
- Not a diagnosis count or a prevalence rate: the counts show students a school has found eligible for ESE under the autism category. They leave out autistic children who are not in public school (private school, home education, too young for school) and those without ESE eligibility.
- Statewide districts: 268 students in 2025-26 were in districts that are not counties (Florida Virtual School, university lab schools and other statewide schools), so the 67 counties add up to slightly less than the state total.
- Small counts: FLDOE shows an asterisk for counts under 10. One county is affected in 2021-22, so percent-change comparisons cover 66 counties. Small districts can show large percent swings from a handful of students.
- Checks: the statewide totals in these files match the figures FLDOE presented to Florida’s ABA Task Force on August 31, 2026 for 2021-22 and 2025-26.
- Access: fldoe.org blocks most automated downloads, so our build reads the Internet Archive’s copies of the same FLDOE files, captured in 2026. For our check we downloaded the 2021-22 and 2025-26 files straight from fldoe.org with a web browser, and they were identical to those copies, byte for byte.
- Counts, not outcomes: this page makes no claim about any therapy or school program.
- Florida Department of Education, Membership in Programs for Exceptional Students (Final Survey 2), 2021-22 to 2025-26, sheet ASD. School years 2021-22 to 2025-26 (Survey 2, October).
- Florida Department of Education, Membership in Florida Public Schools (Survey 2), 2021-22 to 2025-26. School years 2021-22 to 2025-26 (Survey 2, October).
- Florida Department of Education, presentation to the Applied Behavior Analysis Task Force (August 31, 2026), slide 10. School years 2021-22 to 2025-26.
For the statewide trend alongside CDC, BACB and TRICARE figures, see our Florida autism and ABA statistics.
Cite this study
Hope Center for Behavior Change, “Autism in Florida Schools, County by County,” November 12, 2026, https://hopecenterforbehaviorchange.com/research/florida-autism-students-by-county/. Data: Florida Department of Education.
Download the data as a CSV: every figure on this page plus each county’s count, enrollment and rate for all five school years, with sources. Free to use with credit to Hope Center for Behavior Change and a link to this page (CC BY 4.0). Please cite the Florida Department of Education too.
Spotted an error or a newer figure? Email office@hopecenteraba.com and we will correct the page and note the change.
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