Sell Your Commercial Property In Tallahassee, FL

Who rents in Tallahassee

Tallahassee had an estimated 201,875 residents in the 2020–2024 American Community Survey, living in 85,311 occupied homes. Renters held 50,650 of them, a 59.4% share. Across Leon County, with 297,542 residents, the share drops to 47.4%. The city's median household income was $57,409, below the county's $66,287, a gap that reflects the large number of student households inside city limits.

Florida State University is the largest single source of renters. FSU Institutional Research counted 46,184 students in fall 2025, including 33,068 undergraduates and 11,022 graduate students, with 44,275 enrolled at the Tallahassee main campus. Full-time students numbered 37,195, and the average student age was 22.9. Students who live off campus are renters by default.

Florida A&M University adds a second campus population. The Tallahassee Democrat reported in May 2026 that FAMU received a record 32,913 applications and admitted 8,206 students. FSU's own admissions figures show the same pull: 15,933 first-year applicants were admitted for fall 2025 and 4,117 enrolled. Each incoming class adds several thousand students to the city's population.

State government is the other anchor. As Florida's capital, Tallahassee houses the Legislature and state agency headquarters. Our Tallahassee page names Midtown, Frenchtown, Southwood and Killearn as areas where we buy, and they range from older close-in neighborhoods to newer suburban development.

Rents and affordability

Median gross rent in Tallahassee was $1,293 over 2020–2024, nearly the same as Leon County's $1,291. That is well below the medians of Florida's larger metros, but local incomes are lower too. In the city, 57.1% of renter households spend at least 30% of income on rent and utilities, and 32.6% spend half or more. Student households with little earned income likely push those figures up, so they may overstate hardship among working renters, but they also limit how far landlords can raise rents on student units.

HUD's fair market rents for the Tallahassee HMFA, which set payment levels for voucher tenancies, are modest:

Source: HUD FY2026 FMR schedule. The FY2027 schedule took effect October 1, 2026.

The narrow spread between the three- and four-bedroom FMRs, $116, matters in a student market. Where a property leases by the bedroom, a four-bedroom unit's total rent can run well above the FMR.

Tallahassee's benchmarks sit well below the state's larger metros. The FY2026 two-bedroom FMR is $1,352 in Tallahassee, against $1,658 in the Jacksonville HMFA and $1,972 in the Orlando MSA. The city's median gross rent of $1,293 is close to that two-bedroom figure, so voucher tenants can be a realistic part of a building's tenant base here, unlike in higher-cost markets where the FMR trails market rents.

The apartment stock

Tallahassee has 97,245 housing units. Per ACS table B25024, 35,069 of them, or 36.1%, are in buildings with five or more units. Large complexes hold the most, with 14,990 units in buildings of 50 or more, followed by 8,099 in 10–19 unit buildings, 6,125 in 5–9 unit buildings and 5,855 in 20–49 unit buildings.

The county picture is similar on affordability. In Leon County, 55.5% of renter households pay 30% or more of income for housing and 31.4% pay half or more, while 33.4% of units predate 1980 and 12.3% were built in 2010 or later.

The city holds almost all of the county's apartments. Leon County has 36,360 units in 5+ unit buildings, and 35,069 of them, about 96%, are inside Tallahassee. Outside the city, the county's housing is overwhelmingly single-family. A buyer looking for apartment investments in Leon County is effectively shopping in the city.

The median year built is 1988. According to table B25034, 37.0% of units predate 1980 and 12.9% were built in 2010 or later. Only 1.2% were built in 2020 or later, a far lower share than in Orlando, Jacksonville or Fort Myers, which points to limited recent construction. Older garden buildings near campus often need roof, HVAC and plumbing work, and student wear speeds up interior turnover costs.

New supply

New supply has been modest by the ACS measure, but income-restricted projects can still arrive under the Live Local Act. Under s. 196.1978, new developments with more than 70 units set aside for income-qualified households can exempt those units from property tax, fully at or below 80% of area median income and 75% for 80–120%, with rents capped at the lower of the program chart or 90% of market. Outside such projects, existing buildings face less competition from new complexes than owners in faster-growing Florida metros.

Property taxes on apartment buildings in Leon County

The Leon County Property Appraiser sets just value each January 1, as s. 192.042 requires. 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. Both reset on a sale. The appraiser's preliminary 2025 tax roll release said overall market values in the county rose nearly 5.4% from 2024.

The appraiser's 2025-26 levy comparison shows Leon County adopted 8.3144 mills for its general levy, 3.6% above the rolled-back rate, plus 0.7500 for EMS. The City of Tallahassee adopted 4.4072 mills, down slightly from 4.4200 but 4.7% above its rolled-back rate of 4.2080, and the city levy rose 9.0% to $81.8 million. Parcels inside the Downtown Improvement Authority add 1.0000 mill. Combined, the county, EMS and city levies come to 13.4716 mills; on a building with a $5 million taxable value, that is about $67,358 a year before school and water management levies. Leon County's general levy itself totaled $227.6 million, up 8.2% from the prior year. Appeals go to the Value Adjustment Board within 25 days of the TRIM notice under s. 194.011, and deeds carry documentary stamp tax of 70 cents per $100 under s. 201.02.

Landlord rules

Tallahassee and Leon County cannot cap rents under s. 166.043 and s. 125.0103, and s. 83.425 preempts local tenancy rules. That means student leases follow the state act: deposits are uncapped but must be returned within 15 days or claimed in writing within 30 under s. 83.49, which matters when large numbers of student leases end at the same time; 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.

What this means if you own a building here

A Tallahassee building's value depends on its tenant mix. Student properties close to FSU or FAMU lease on an academic cycle, and buyers will study pre-leasing for the next fall, parent guarantees and turnover costs. Workforce buildings in Midtown, Southwood or Killearn are valued more like conventional apartments, on stable occupancy and rent growth. In both cases, a buyer will reset the tax base to the purchase price and price insurance to the building's age.

Check how those changes move value with our cap rate calculator and our net operating income guide. Skyline Capital Investments buys 5+ unit buildings across Tallahassee, listed or off-market; our seller page explains how we underwrite.

Before listing, assemble the last two TRIM notices, a rent roll that shows lease start and end dates, any parent or guarantor agreements, deposit balances held under s. 83.49 and records of turnover work. For student buildings, a current pre-leasing report for the next academic year is often the first document a buyer requests, because it shows how much of next year's income is already signed.