Suwannee, Florida

Score 5.88 / 10· population 46,130

Suwannee County, 30 minutes west of Lake City, has two cities, Live Oak and Branford, and Hurricane Helene's winds did extensive damage in 2024, gusting to 99 mph at Dowling Park. Suwannee Correctional Institution and its annex near Wellborn can hold 2,764 men, and government supplied 20.5% of the county's jobs in 2024. Road crashes kill 30.8 per 100,000 a year, nearly twice Florida's rate, and life expectancy is 72.9 years, against 78.1 statewide (County Health Rankings, 2025).

Sources

Suwannee County is about 30 minutes west of Lake City via I-75 or US 90 and includes the cities of Live Oak and Branford visitflorida.com
Hurricane Helene's winds caused extensive damage across Suwannee County, including Live Oak, in September 2024; an 86 kt (about 99 mph) gust at Dowling Park, Suwannee County, tied for the highest measured in Florida nhc.noaa.gov
Suwannee Correctional Institution, 5964 US Highway 90, Live Oak, 2 miles west of Wellborn, holds adult men with a capacity of 1,418 fdc.myflorida.com
Suwannee Correctional Institution Annex, at the same address, has a capacity of 1,346 (2,764 with the main unit) fdc.myflorida.com
Government was 20.5% of average annual employment in Suwannee County in 2024, against 11.3% for Florida edr.state.fl.us
Life expectancy is 72.9 years in Suwannee County and 78.1 in Florida (County Health Rankings 2025 data) countyhealthrankings.org
Motor vehicle crash deaths are 30.8 per 100,000 in Suwannee County and 15.7 in Florida (County Health Rankings 2025 data) countyhealthrankings.org

v4 — beta, 30 October 2026, sourced values

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Eleven factors

Government behavior

Fraser Institute state ranking (state)7.6
2A (state)8.0
GOP + LP vote for President8.0
Sales tax3.6
Property tax6.7

Suwannee, Florida

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Eleven factors

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