Sell Your Commercial Property In Port St. Lucie, FL

Who rents in Port St. Lucie

Port St. Lucie had an estimated 232,491 residents in the 2020–2024 American Community Survey, nearly two-thirds of St. Lucie County's 360,500. It is overwhelmingly a homeowner city. Of 83,952 occupied homes, 70,522 are owner-occupied and 13,430 rented, a renter share of 16.0%. The county as a whole is 21.4% renter, and Fort Pierce and the unincorporated areas hold most of the rest.

Even so, the city's size makes it the county's largest single renter market. Port St. Lucie accounts for 13,430 of the county's 29,469 renter households, about 45.6%. Median household income in the city was $80,648, above the county's $71,457, and renters here generally pay more than elsewhere in the county.

The ACS counts 90,911 housing units in the city against 83,952 occupied as primary homes, so about 6,960 units, 7.7%, were vacant, seasonal or between occupants when surveyed. Countywide the figure is 22,693 units, or 14.2%.

Rents and affordability

Median gross rent in Port St. Lucie, including utilities, was $1,937 over 2020–2024, $352 above the county's $1,585. The housing mix explains much of the gap: with few apartment buildings in the city, many renters lease single-family houses, and the apartments that exist are mostly recent. Affordability is still tight. Some 58.8% of renter households pay at least 30% of income for housing, and 28.1%, about 3,770 households, pay half or more. Countywide, 59.5% of renters are cost-burdened.

HUD's FY2026 Fair Market Rents for the Port St. Lucie MSA are $1,455 for a studio, $1,467 for a one-bedroom, $1,757 for a two-bedroom, $2,421 for a three-bedroom and $2,579 for a four-bedroom. The city's median rent sits above the two-bedroom FMR, which means voucher holders compete for a limited slice of the market and owners pricing to the city median will find few voucher tenants at those rents. FY2027 figures took effect October 1, 2026.

Sources: Port St. Lucie, St. Lucie County and county year-built ACS tables via Census Reporter.

Where the demand comes from

Health care is the clearest anchor inside the city. The St. Lucie County EDC lists Cleveland Clinic Tradition Hospital, with 177 private rooms, a 27-bed emergency department and an 18-bed observation unit, and HCA Florida St. Lucie Hospital, a 207-bed hospital with more than 400 physicians and over 900 employees. Cleveland Clinic describes the Tradition campus on SW Innovation Way as a full medical campus with diagnostic centers and outpatient surgery. Cleveland Clinic's Martin Health system runs three hospitals with 521 beds between Port St. Lucie and Stuart.

Population growth is the other driver. The housing data show the pace: 7,730 units were built in 2020 or later and 12,067 in the 2010s, together 21.8% of the stock, against 16.5% countywide. Newcomers who are not ready to buy add to rental demand, and they compete with existing tenants for a small pool of apartments.

The apartment stock

According to ACS table B25024, only 5,336 of the city's 90,911 housing units, 5.9%, are in buildings of five or more units: 2,425 in 10–19 unit buildings, 1,258 in 5–9 unit buildings, 849 in 20–49 unit buildings and 804 in buildings of 50 or more. Detached houses make up 87.1% of the stock. The city holds about a quarter of the county's 21,226 units in 5+ unit buildings despite having nearly two-thirds of its people, so most of the county's apartment supply sits in Fort Pierce and unincorporated areas. Two-to-four unit buildings add only 2,046 units, 2.3% of the city's stock, and mobile homes 1,505.

The stock is young. Per table B25034, the median year built is 2002, 35.2% of units date from the 2000s, and only 8.9% predate 1980. Apartment owners here usually hold buildings from the last 25 years rather than the older walk-ups common in coastal Florida cities. Newer buildings carry lower near-term capital needs but compete directly with lease-ups of new complexes and with single-family rentals.

New income-restricted projects may also arrive under the Live Local Act. Under s. 196.1978, new developments with more than 70 units set aside for households at or below 120% of area median income can exempt those units from property tax, fully at 80% of AMI or below and 75% between 80% and 120%, with rents capped at the lower of the program chart or 90% of market.

Property taxes in St. Lucie County

The St. Lucie County Property Appraiser assesses each parcel at just value as of January 1 under s. 192.042. Buildings of 10 or more units fall under s. 193.1555, which caps annual assessed-value growth at 10% for non-school levies; 2–9 unit buildings get the same cap under s. 193.1554. School levies apply to full just value, and both caps reset after a sale.

Rates are high here. The St. Lucie County EDC, citing the Property Appraiser's 2025 rates, lists a total of 22.3097 mills in Port St. Lucie, against 24.2347 in Fort Pierce and 19.1481 in unincorporated areas, before special district and non-ad valorem charges. The Port St. Lucie total includes 6.6645 mills for schools and the Children's Services Council, 4.1985 for the county general fund, 2.7294 for law enforcement and jail, 3.0000 for the fire district and 4.975 for the city. The city's budget office reports the city rate at 4.8750 for FY 2026/27, down from 6.6289 in FY 2015/16.

At 22.3097 mills, a $3 million building would owe roughly $66,900 a year once a sale resets its assessment. The same building in unincorporated St. Lucie County, at 19.1481 mills, would owe about $9,500 less, a gap buyers notice when comparing properties on either side of the city line. Appeals go to the Value Adjustment Board within 25 days of the TRIM notice under s. 194.011. Deeds carry documentary stamp tax of 70 cents per $100 under s. 201.02, or $21,000 on a $3 million sale.

Landlord rules

Port St. Lucie cannot cap rents: s. 166.043 and s. 125.0103 bar local rent controls, and s. 83.425 preempts local tenancy rules. Deposits are uncapped but must be returned within 15 days or claimed in writing within 30 under s. 83.49. Nonpayment notices give three days, excluding weekends and legal holidays, under s. 83.56, and month-to-month tenancies end on 30 days' notice under s. 83.57. Rentals of six months or less owe sales tax, per the Department of Revenue.

What this means if you own a building here

Port St. Lucie apartment owners hold something scarce: multifamily units in a city where nearly nine in ten homes are detached houses and median rent runs above the county and the HUD two-bedroom standard. Buyers will pay for that, but they will underwrite a tax bill near 22 mills on their purchase price and check rents against nearby new construction. Our apartment building value calculator shows how the tax reset changes value, and the capital gains tax calculator estimates what you keep after a sale.

Skyline Capital Investments buys 5+ unit buildings across Port St. Lucie and St. Lucie County, listed or off-market. Our seller page explains how we underwrite. Have a current rent roll, the last two TRIM notices, insurance declarations and any builder warranty or HOA documents ready when you talk to buyers.