Davenport, Florida: what the city is and where it sits

How big is Davenport, and how fast has it grown?

According to the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 city estimates, Davenport had 18,110 residents as of July 1, 2025. Five years earlier the figure was 9,684. That is roughly 87% growth in five years, measured July to July on the Census series itself; against the April 2020 estimates base of 9,297, the increase tops 95%.

Polk County as a whole reached 874,790 residents on the same date, so Davenport is still a small town inside a large county. What sets it apart is the pace: few places in the county have changed size this quickly.

Each Census vintage revises earlier years. Vintage 2024 put Davenport at 16,764 for 2024; Vintage 2025 lowered it to 16,681, which is why the vintage is always quoted with the number. Land area is 4.4 square miles (11.4 km²), based on the January 1, 2024 boundaries used in the Census Gazetteer.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, city population estimates, Vintage 2025 (as of November 14, 2026) · U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 Gazetteer, Florida places

What does the city’s own history say?

The City of Davenport’s history page traces the town to a military post and, later, to the railroad. The key dates:

1. 1838: a settlement forms around Fort Davenport during the Second Seminole War. The fort was named for Colonel William Davenport, the local U.S. commander.
2. 1884: a post office opens under the name Horse Creek.
3. The 1880s: the South Florida Railroad is extended into the area, giving the settlement its commercial start.
4. 1886: the post office is renamed Davenport.
5. 1915: Davenport incorporates, holding its first Town Meeting on March 11, 1915.
6. 1920: the population reaches 140.

City Hall is at 1 South Allapaha Avenue, Davenport, FL 33837. Going from 140 people in 1920 to more than 18,000 in 2025 explains why so much of what you see in town today, from roads to entire neighborhoods, is recent.

Sources: City of Davenport, History (as of November 14, 2026)

Where is Davenport relative to Four Corners and ChampionsGate?

Four Corners is the area where Lake, Orange, Osceola and Polk county lines meet. An Orange County press release from September 17, 2025 refers to nearly 60,000 residents there. The Census treats Four Corners as a CDP, an unincorporated place, with 47.5 square miles of land. Davenport, by contrast, is a municipality with its own government, south of that four-county junction.

ChampionsGate sits in Osceola County, ZIP code 33896, per OpenStreetMap. It is not listed as a CDP in the 2024 Gazetteer, so there is no official population figure for it. From Aquamara, the ChampionsGate Golf Club is 7.0 miles away by OSRM routing. I cover both ends of this corridor in a page on homes in ChampionsGate and Davenport and a piece on who is buying in Four Corners.

Routes were calculated with OpenStreetMap (OSRM), without traffic, as of November 14, 2026; expect longer at rush hour, especially on I-4 and US 27. The starting point is the intersection itself, since the community gate is not yet on the map. See where Aquamara is located for more.

Sources: Orange County Government, press release, September 17, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 Gazetteer · Routing: OpenStreetMap via OSRM, as of November 14, 2026

Why does it matter that a property is inside Davenport city limits?

It determines which set of rules applies. Ordinance 1354, which created the community development district petitioned by Pulte Home Company, states that its 287.90 acres lie entirely within the incorporated limits of the City of Davenport. An owner there answers to city rules (land development code, municipal Business Tax Receipt) and to the countywide ones, such as Polk’s 5% Tourist Development Tax on short-term stays and the county Business Tax Receipt.

The land became part of the city through annexation. Market reports put it at about 1,600 acres annexed in October 2024; the official record is the PUD rezoning in Ordinance 1321, with a first reading on October 21, 2024 and a second on December 16, 2024. The Census land area of 4.4 square miles therefore likely predates that expansion.

Population growth says nothing certain about any one property’s future value. What it does show is a city under construction, with rules still being written. Talk to a Florida attorney or CPA before choosing how to hold the property, and check the official tax page at the Polk County Tax Collector. Licensing steps are covered in Polk County short-term rental licensing.

Sources: City of Davenport, Ordinance 1354 · City of Davenport, Ordinance 1321 · Polk County Tax Collector, Tourist Development Tax