St. Cloud or Saint Cloud is a city in northern Osceola County, Florida, United States. It is on the southern shore of East Lake Tohopekaliga in Central Florida, about southeast of Orlando. The population was 58,964 as of the 2020 census, and was estimated at 74,960 in 2025. The city is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford metropolitan area.
St. Cloud was founded as a retirement community for Union army veterans of the Civil War, and gained the nickname "The Friendly Soldier City".
History
During the 1870s, Hamilton Disston of Philadelphia took an interest in developing the region while on fishing trips with Henry Shelton Sanford, founder of the city of Sanford. Disston contracted with the Florida Internal Improvement Fund, then in receivership, to pay $1 million to offset its Civil War and Reconstruction debt. In exchange, Disston was awarded half the land he drained from the state's swamps. He dug canals and, in 1886–1887, established St. Cloud sugarcane plantation, named after St. Cloud, Minnesota, although many longtime locals claim the town was named after Saint-Cloud, France.Berman Law Group
Disston opened the Sugar Belt Railway to the South Florida Railroad in 1888 to carry his product to market. But the Panic of 1893 dropped land values, and the Great Freeze of 1894–1895 ruined the plantation. Disston returned to Philadelphia, where he died in 1896. The Sugar Belt Railway merged into the South Florida Railroad. An attempt to cultivate rice in the area failed, and for several years the land remained fallow. Then in 1909, the Seminole Land & Investment Company acquired as the site for a Grand Army of the Republic veterans' colony. St. Cloud was selected because of its "health, climate and productiveness of soil." It was first permanently settled in 1909 by William G. King, a real estate manager from Alachua County who had been given the responsibility "to plan, locate and develop a town."
On April 16, 1909, the Kissimmee Valley Gazette announced the "New Town of St. Cloud", a "Soldiers Colony" near Kissimmee. The newspaper called the Seminole Land and Investment Company's purchase "one of the most important real estate deals ever made in the State of Florida". It was reported that the company had searched all over Florida for the perfect site for a veterans' colony, particularly one suited for "health, climate, and productiveness of the soil". It is believed that many of the streets were named for states from which the Civil War veterans had served, but the street names were already assigned to the platted land before settlement occurred. Due to the large number of veterans buried in Mt. Peace Cemetery, the latter has been called "one of the largest non-battlefield Union cemeteries south of the Mason–Dixon line".
Early St. Cloud had a history as a Sundown Town with a plot of land outside the city reserved for black residents officially dubbed "Colored Quarter". This name is still active on official land records as the title of this section of land. Early newspaper records support the history of being a "Sundown Town" with firsthand accounts of local residents making attempts "to keep the colored folks in their own quarters outside the town".
On June 1, 1915, the Florida Legislature incorporated St. Cloud as a city. Its downtown features landmark buildings by the Orlando architectural firm Ryan & Roberts, a partnership consisting of two women. The buildings by Ryan and Roberts and others downtown are predominantly Spanish Revival.Dalles, John, "The Pathbreaking Legacy of Ryan and Roberts", in "Reflections", the journal of the Historical Society of Central Florida, Summer 2009; pages 8 and 9.
St. Cloud has tried to separate itself from neighboring cities, and particularly the theme parks, by promoting an image of small-town life, and by attempting to make itself economically less dependent on Kissimmee. On March 6, 2006, St. Cloud introduced the CyberSpot program, becoming the first city in the United States to give residents free high-speed wireless Internet access, but the program ended in 2009.
Water tower cross controversy In the late 1960s, the city of St. Cloud was gifted a Latin cross during the Christmas season. The twelve-foot tall cross, which was illuminated at night, stood atop the city’s water tower off U.S. Route 192 for nearly twenty years without issue.
By November 1986, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed its first lawsuit against the city of St. Cloud to have the cross removed. Four months later, in March 1987, private citizen Ronald Mendelson filed a similar lawsuit that the cross violated the U.S. Constitution’s mandate of separation of church and state. Mendelson, a Jewish resident who lived east of St. Cloud, decided to sue because of the city’s implicit endorsement of Christianity atop the water tower and the inconvenience Mendelson felt due to the "shadow of the cross". In defense of its presence, residents cited the cross as a local landmark and directional marker for boaters, drivers, and pilots commuting within St. Cloud.
On August 16, 1989, a U.S. District judge ruled in favor of Mendelson to have the Latin cross removed off the water tower. The judge, however, suggested in his ruling that the city replace the Latin cross with a Greek cross, distinguished for representing a plus-sign, to identify St. Cloud as a crossroad city. The ACLU quickly filed an additional lawsuit, claiming that the new Greek cross still violated the U.S. Constitution in an attempt to evade the judge's original ruling.
Eventually, the city of St. Cloud agreed to remove the cross in 1990, primarily due to the mounting legal costs incurred by the ACLU. Local support through the city council to reinstate the Latin cross on private property within St. Cloud was proposed. Ultimately, those discussions fell through due to the 35-foot height restriction that the cross would have exceeded on a structure within city limits.
The original Latin cross has since been moved atop a 60-foot tower on private property in nearby Intercession City, where it has remained since 1995.
Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , of which is land and (0.29%) is water.
St. Cloud is on the southern shore of East Lake Tohopekaliga, an exceptionally clear lake, with good visibility to depths of . East Lake is nearly circular in shape and covers approximately .
The major highway is U.S. Route 192 running in tandem with U.S. Route 441 east and west. This six-lane road is intersected by avenues running north and south. Many have names of US states in no particular order.
Florida's Turnpike has an intersection in St. cloud at Clay Whaley, however that is soon to change to a new Diverging Diamond Interchange at Nolte. Currently the Clay Whaley Intersection only supports Orlando traffic.
St. Cloud also has Osceola County roads 523 (Canoe Creek) 534 (Hickory Tree Rd) 532 (Nova Rd) and 525 (Kissimmee Park Rd)
Climate The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild winters. According to the Köppen climate classification, the City of St. Cloud has a humid subtropical climate zone (Cfa).
Demographics
According to realtor website Zillow, the average price of a home as of August 31, 2026, in Saint Cloud was $389,676.
As of the 2024 American Community Survey, there were 23,092 estimated households in St. Cloud with an average of 3.05 persons per household. The city has a median household income of $95,990. Approximately 10.8% of the city's population lives at or below the poverty line. St. Cloud has an estimated 68.6% employment rate, with 34.3% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 88.3% holding a high school diploma. There were 24,743 housing units at an average density of .
The median age in the city was 35.0 years.
+St. Cloud, Florida – racial and ethnic composition Race / ethnicity (NH = non-Hispanic) Pop. 1980 Pop. 1990 Pop. 2000 Pop. 2010 White alone (NH) 7,658(97.68%) 11,737(94.25%) 16,513(82.26%) 21,851(62.11%) 23,799(40.36%) Black or African American alone (NH) 26(0.33%) 119(0.96%) 319(1.59%) 1,633(4.64%) 3,392(5.75%) Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) — 50(0.40%) 75(0.37%) 79(0.22%) 100(0.17%) Asian alone (NH) — 64(0.51%) 186(0.93%) 580(1.65%) 1,111(1.88%) Pacific Islander alone (NH) — — 9(0.04%) 21(0.06%) 51(0.09%) Other race alone (NH) 44(0.56%) 1(0.01%) 32(0.16%) 143(0.41%) 393(0.67%) Mixed race or multiracial (NH) — — 259(1.29%) 596(1.69%) 2,038(3.46%) Hispanic or Latino (any race) 112(1.43%) 482(3.87%) 2,681(13.36%) 10,280(29.22%) 28,080(47.62%) Total 7,840(100.00%) 12,453(100.00%) 20,074(100.00%) 35,183(100.00%) 58,964(100.00%)
2020 census As of the 2020 census, there were 58,964 people, 19,976 households, and 15,240 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 21,347 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 51.36% White, 6.95% African American, 0.48% Native American, 1.98% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 15.24% from some other races and 23.88% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 47.62% of the population.
2010 census As of the 2010 census, there were 35,183 people, 12,565 households, and 9,145 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 14,544 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 82.43% White, 5.83% African American, 0.38% Native American, 1.74% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 6.14% from some other races and 3.41% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 29.22% of the population.
2000 census As of the 2000 census, there were 20,074 people, 6,716 households, and 5,424 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 8,602 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 90.27% White, 2.07% African American, 0.47% Native American, 0.95% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 4.10% from some other races and 2.06% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 13.36% of the population.
There were 7,716 households out of which 34.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.8% were married couples living together, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.7% were non-families. 23.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.00.
In the city the population was spread out with 25.5% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 17.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 90.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $36,467, and the median income for a family was $41,211. Males had a median income of $30,955 versus $22,414 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,031. 8.1% of the population and 6.2% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 8.7% were under the age of 18 and 8.3% were 65 or older.
Education All of the public schools in St. Cloud are served by the School District of Osceola County, Florida.
Elementary Schools Canoe Creek K–8 (formerly Canoe Creek Charter) Harmony Elementary School (HCES) Hickory Tree Elementary School (HTE) Lakeview Elementary School (LVES) Michigan Avenue Elementary School (MES) Narcoossee Elementary School (NCES) Neptune Elementary School St. Cloud Elementary School (SCES)
Middle Schools Harmony Middle School (HCMS) Narcoossee Middle School (NCMS) Neptune Middle School (NMS) St. Cloud Middle School (SCMS)
High Schools