This Southwest Florida city just passed Tallahassee as 8th largest in the state
Move over, Tallahassee — Cape Coral is now more populous than the state capital, making it the eighth largest city in Florida.
Cape Coral has a population of 194,570 while Tallahassee has 194,170, according to worldpopulationreview.com, a website provided by the Cape clerk's office. Port St. Lucie with 202,769 is No. 7.
The growing population will provide new opportunities for the city, said Cape Coral Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Donna Germain. Experts have said it would put the city on more businesses' radars as a place to grow and expand.
"Our hope is that companies looking to relocate their business or investors looking to develop will now see Cape Coral as a major destination for growth in our state," Germain said via email.
"As someone who was born and raised in Cape Coral, it’s exciting to see how far we have come, and I personally cannot wait to see our city grow as we move into the future."
City Public Information Specialist Maureen Buice said she thinks the city's growth is because of its safety record, affordability and ongoing utilities extension project. City Manager John Szerlag previously said the city is on pace to surpass 200,000 full-time residents sometime this year.
Cape Coral has steadily increased the number of new construction permits it's approved in the past several years, as it works back up to prerecession numbers.
For new construction in fiscal year 2018, Cape Coral issued 2,187 single-family residential permits, seven multifamily residential permits, and 40 commercial permits, according to data from the city.
Those numbers for fiscal year 2006 were 4,138, 115 and 111, respectively.
Florida's top 10 most populous cities, according to worldpopulationreview.com:
Jacksonville — 920,984
Miami — 491,724
Tampa — 403,178
Orlando — 297,243
St. Petersburg — 273,968
Hialeah — 234,428
Port St. Lucie — 202,769
Cape Coral — 194,570
Tallahassee — 194,170
Fort Lauderdale — 181,995