Greater Orlando
Metropolitan statistical area
Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area
From top (left to right):Downtown Orlando,Walt Disney World,Universal Studios Florida,Altamonte Springs,Celebration, andRollins College
Greater Orlando with counties with many suburbs (in dark red) and counties with few suburbs (in light red)
Coordinates:28°32′N81°23′W / 28.54°N 81.38°W /28.54; -81.38
Country	United States
State(s)	Florida
Largest city	Orlando
Other cities	Kissimmee Sanford Saint Cloud Winter Garden Daytona Beach Deltona Winter Park Windermere Apopka Ocoee Casselberry Oviedo Clermont Winter Springs Altamonte Springs Lake Mary Leesburg Bay Lake Lake Buena Vista
Area
• Total	4,011 sq mi (10,390 km2)
Highest elevation	312 ft (95 m)
Lowest elevation	0 ft (0 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	2,673,376[1]
• Rank	22nd in the U.S.
• Density	666.5/sq mi (257.3/km2)
GDP [2]
• MSA	$194.5 billion (2022)

TheOrlando metropolitan area (officially, forU.S. census purposes, theOrlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area) is an inlandmetropolitan area in thecentral region of the U.S. state ofFlorida. Its principal cities areOrlando,Kissimmee, andSanford. The U.S.Office of Management and Budget defines it as consisting of the counties ofLake,Orange (including Orlando),Osceola, andSeminole.^[3]

According to the2020 U.S. census, the population of Greater Orlando is 2,673,376, an increase of nearly 540,000 new residents between 2010 and 2020.

By population, it is the third-largest metropolitan area in Florida, the seventh-largest in thesoutheastern United States, and the22nd largest in the United States. The MSA encompasses 4,012 square miles (10,400 km²) of total area (both land and water areas).

The Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford MSA is further listed by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget as part of theOrlando–Lakeland–Deltona, Florida Combined Statistical Area (CSA). This includes theDeltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach (Volusia andFlagler counties),Lakeland-Winter Haven (Polk County), andWildwood-The Villages (Sumter County) MSAs.^[3] As of the2010 census, theCombined Statistical Area population was 3,447,946, with a 2018 estimate at 4,096,575.^[4]

The MSA was first defined in 1950 as the Orlando Standard Metropolitan Area, consisting solely of Orange County. Seminole County was added to the MSA in 1959, Osceola County in 1973, and Lake County in 1992. The name was changed to Orlando–Kissimmee MSA in 2004, and to Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford MSA in 2009.^[5]

Like much of theSouthern United States, according to theKöppen climate classification, Orlando has ahumid subtropical climate (Cfa). The two basic seasons in the Orlando area are a hot and rainy season from May until late October (roughly coinciding with theAtlantic hurricane season), and a warm and dry season from November through April.^[6] The area's relatively low elevation and close proximity to theTropic of Cancer are what accentuate the humidity during the summer months, when temperatures typically reach as high as the low 90s °F (32–34 °C), while daily high temperatures below the low 70s °F (22–24 °C) are pretty rare. The average window for 90 °F (32 °C) temperatures is April 9 to October 14. The area's humidity acts as a buffer, usually preventing actual temperatures from exceeding 100 °F (38 °C) but also pushing theheat index to over 110 °F (43 °C). The city's highest recorded temperature is 103 °F (39 °C), set on September 8, 1921. Strong afternoon thunderstorms are common daily during these months, caused by the air mass from theGulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean colliding over the region. These storms can be quite powerful, bringing heavy torrential downpours, powerful winds, and even damaginghail.^[7]

Humidity cools off during the winter months, resulting in more comfortable temperatures. The monthly daily average temperature in January is 60.6 °F (15.9 °C). Temperatures dip below the freezing mark on an average of only 1.6 nights per year and the lowest recorded temperature is 18 °F (−8 °C), set onDecember 28, 1894. The annual mean minimum is just above 30 °F (−1 °C) putting Orlando inhardiness zone 10a. There have been some instances of snow accumulation over the years (despite it being rare), such as in January 1977 (which had also reachedMiami), along with flurries that were observedin 1989, 2006,^[8] and in 2010.^[9]

The average annual rainfall in Orlando is 51.45 inches (1,307 mm), a majority of which occurs in the period from June to September. October through May are Orlando's dry season. During this period (especially in its later months), often awildfire hazard exists. During some years, fires have been severe. In 1998, a strongEl Niño caused an unusually wet January and February, followed by drought throughout the spring and early summer, causing a record wildfire season that created numerous air-quality alerts in Orlando and severely affected normal daily life, including the postponement of that year'sPepsi 400NASCAR race in nearbyDaytona Beach.^[10]

Like much of Florida, whilehurricanes are a risk, the Orlando metro region's inland location gives the region more protection from storms, than compared tosouthern and coastal regions of the state. The city is located 42 miles (68 km) inland from the Atlantic and 77 miles (124 km) inland from the Gulf of Mexico.^[a] Despite its location, the city does see strong hurricanes, as was seen in the2004 hurricane season, when the Orlando metro region was hit by three hurricanes that year (Hurricane Charley the worst of the three).

The following is a list of the fifteen largest cities in the Orlando metropolitan area as ranked by population.^[16][17][18]

Principal cities (sometimes called primary cities) are defined by the OMB based on population size and employment. In general, a principal city has more non-residents commuting into the city to work than residents commuting out of the city to work.^[22]

• Orlando,pop. 307,573
• Kissimmee,pop. 79,226
• Sanford,pop. 53,570^[23]

The Orlando metropolitan area is historically a Republican stronghold but began shifting toward the Democratic Party at the turn of the 21st century, driven by increasing demographic diversity. However, following the 2016 election, the region has shown a trend toward the Republican Party, largely due to growing support among Hispanic voters, particularly Puerto Ricans, under Donald Trump. In the 2024 election, Trump came within one percentage point of winning the metro area, the closest margin since 2004.

Majesty Building, is an 18-story, 300,000-square-foot (27,871 m²) office building located inAltamonte Springs,Seminole County

TheSun Trust Center, at a height of 441 ft (134.4 m), is thetallest multi-storyskyscraper in Orlando,Orange County

Hyatt Regency Orlando, at a height of 428 ft (130.5 m), is thesecond tallest multi-story skyscraper in Orlando,Orange County

Greater Orlando is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world thanks to the manytheme parks in the area. Famous attractions includeWalt Disney World,SeaWorld Orlando andUniversal Orlando. Millions of tourists visit these and other attractions every year.

In 2015, the Orlando area attracted 68 million people.^[37]

Thecitrus industry historically dominated the Orlando area economy but has declined over the past 100 years. The Christmas 1989 impact freeze proved particularly damaging to commercial citrus farming within Greater Orlando.^[38] There are still three majororange juice plants remaining in the area: Cutrale Citrus Juices inLeesburg; Florida's Natural Growers inUmatilla; and Silver Springs Citrus inHowey-in-the-Hills. Minute Maid maintains a major juice flavoring plant inApopka.

Other agricultural pursuits, particularly cattle farming, remain important parts of the Central Florida economy but are now all located on the outer fringes of the metro area. Orlando is also a major food processing center.

Metro Orlando has served as a majormilitary defense andaerospace center since World War II. The most prominent defense contractor in the area isLockheed Martin, which operates both a laboratory and a manufacturing facility in Orlando. Military presence began in the 1940s, with the opening ofMcCoy Air Force Base and the Orlando Naval Training Center.

McCoy AFB was a major hub ofB-52 Stratofortress operations. McCoy AFB was split between the city and NTC Orlando in 1974, and NTC Orlando closed in the mid-1990s. McCoy AFB is now the location of theOrlando International Airport. Farther north in Sanford, theOrlando Sanford International Airport was originally Naval Air Station Sanford.

Metro Orlando's economy has greatly diversified from tourism, and the area is now considered a primary city for the modeling, simulation, and training (MS&T) industry.^[39] TheUniversity of Central Florida is home to more than 60,000 students, the secondlargest public university campus by enrollment,^[40] and the university established theUCF College of Medicine in 2006. TheCentral Florida Research Park is the seventh largest research park in the United States by number of employees and fourth largest by number of companies.^[41] In addition to aLockheed Martin branch, it also hosts other majorhi-tech companies, such asOracle Corporation,Electronic Arts, andSiemens.

Orlando is targeting thebiotechnology andlife sciences industries, with major new projects clustering in theLake Nona Medical City. In addition to the UCF College of Medicine, aVA Hospital, aSanford-Burnham Institute research center^[when?] and aNemours Foundation children's hospital are being constructed.^[when?]

Tavistock Group, an investment firm that held 7,000 acres (2,800 ha) of land immediately southeast ofOrlando International Airport, began formulating new possibilities for its land use after the decline in tourism to the state. Tavistock decided to use part of the land to establish a bio-sciences cluster.

In 2005, the state of Florida along with Tavistock Group and the University of Central Florida agreed that Tavistock would donate 50 acres (20 ha) and $12.5 million (which the state would match for a total of $25 Million) to start the UCF College of Medicine and the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences. The UCF College of Medicine won approval from the State Board of Governors in 2006. That decision was key to attractingSanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute to Central Florida. Tavistock then donated another 50 acres (20 ha) and $17.5 million to Sanford-Burnham which allowed Sanford-Burnham's East Coast expansion.

In February and March 2007 respectively, Nemours and theUnited States Department of Veterans Affairs announced Lake Nona as the site of two new hospitals.^{[citation needed]}Other prospective tenants of the Lake Nona Medical City includedMD Anderson Cancer Center Orlando, theUniversity of Florida research center, andValencia Community College.^{[citation needed]}It was determined in 2008 from a study done by Arduin, Laffer and Moore Econometrics that the Lake Nona Medical City cluster has in two years reached 80% of the Milken Numbers which were based on the commitments made by the economic development statements. The study then released new projections for the 10-year period which included 30,000 jobs created and a $7.6 billion economic impact.^[42]

In January 2020, KPMG completed construction of a $450 million, 55 acre, state-of-the-art training facility in the Lake Nona region of the Greater Orlando area.^[43] The site hosts KPMG professionals for training from across the United States, and provides direct shuttles from Orlando International Airport to the training facility. Only the firm's employees are permitted on the grounds.

In Florida, each county has aschool district coterminous with the county, distinct from the county government. Each school district is headed by an electedschool board. Orange County has a school board with seven members elected fromsingle-member districts plus a board chair electedat-large. Osceola County has a school board of five members elected from single-member districts. Lake and Seminole counties have school boards of five members elected by county-wide vote from districts in which they must reside. The school districts in the Greater Orlando metro area each have a professionalsuperintendent who manages the day-to-day operations of the district. The superintendent in each of those districts is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the school board.^[44]

As of 2023, theOrange County Public School District is currently the8th-largest public school district in the nation.^[45]

TheUniversity of Central Florida is a nationally recognized 4-yearpublic university in the region. As of the Fall 2020 semester, the university's student population was 71,948, making it thelargest university in the nation by enrollment.^[46] The university's 1,415 acre main campus is situated in northeast Orange County.^[46]

NearbyWinter Park is the home ofRollins College, a private college situated only a few miles fromDowntown Orlando. In 2012, it was ranked #1 by U.S. News & World Report amongst regional universities in the South.^[47]

TheDisney College Program (DCP) is aUnited States nationalinternship program operated by the Disney Programs division ofThe Walt Disney Company. The DCP is located at theWalt Disney World Resort inOrlando (another version of the DCP is also featured atDisneyland Resort inAnaheim,California). The program recruits college students (ages 18 and older) of all majors for a semester-long paid work experience program at either the Orlando or Anaheim resorts, with the option of extending to almost a full year.^[48]

Additional colleges and universities in the Greater Orlando area include:

• Barry University (Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law)
• Beacon College (for those withspecial needs)
• Florida A&M University College of Law
• Florida Technical College
• Full Sail University
• Johnson University Florida
• Lake–Sumter State College
• Seminole State College of Florida
• Southern Technical College
• Valencia College

Orlando International Airport atrium, featuring an on-siteHyatt Regency hotel

The primary major airports of the area areOrlando International Airport, at SR 528 Exit 11/SR 417 Exit 17, andOrlando Sanford International Airport, at SR 417 Exit 49.

Orlando International (MCO) is afocus city ofJetBlue andSouthwest Airlines.AirTran Airways was headquartered in Orlando and had a major hub in Orlando but it was merged into Southwest. JetBlue also has a training facility known as JetBlue University, and is the main training center for JetBlue's pilots, inflight crew, plus support training for its technical operations and customer service crew. JetBlue also provides general aircraft maintenance and LiveTV installation and maintenance in Orlando.

Orlando Sanford International (SFB) is generally served by charter flights from Europe, though it is also a hub for national small-city carrierAllegiant Air and home to Delta Connection Academy, a pilot training school.

In the Combined Statistical Area,Daytona Beach International Airport andLeesburg International Airport also serve the area, and they are used by many tourists seeking to directly connect to Daytona Beach's many local offerings, such asDaytona Beach Bike Week,Speedweeks andSpring Break. It is located so its runways cradleDaytona International Speedway, making it convenient for some fans to arrive in Daytona, watch theDaytona 500 orCoke Zero 400, and then return home the same day. Daytona Beach International also serves as the main airport for pilot training atEmbry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Municipal airports in the region includeOrlando Executive Airport,Kissimmee Gateway Airport,Ormond Beach Municipal Airport andDeLand Municipal Airport.

Limited-access highways in Greater Orlando include:

• Florida's Turnpike, which heads southeast to theTreasure Coast andSouth Florida, as well as northwest to connect toInterstate 75 south ofOcala.
• Interstate 4, which meets Florida's Turnpike near theUniversal Orlando Resort, heads north through the Orlando area toDaytona Beach and southwest toLakeland andTampa (the only entirely non-tolled freeway in the area).
• Interstate 95, CrossesBrevard County, andVolusia County running south connectingTreasure Coast &Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach and North connectingJacksonville–St. Marys–Palatka &Georgia.
• TheBeachline (Formerly Bee Line Expressway; SR 528), which meets I-4 nearSeaWorld and connects to theOrlando International Airport,Space Coast,Cape Canaveral, and theJohn F. Kennedy Space Center.
• TheCentral Florida GreeneWay (SR 417), which passes around the edge of the eastern half of the area as a beltway, and connects to bothOrlando International Airport andOrlando Sanford International Airport.
• TheEast-West Expressway (SR 408), which crosses the area from west (where it connects to Florida's Turnpike) to east (where it connects to Colonial Drive, south of University of Central Florida), passing through downtown Orlando, where it connects to Interstate 4.
• TheWestern Expressway (SR 429), which serves as the beltway in the western half of the area, connects to Interstate 4 on both ends from Sanford in the north, through Apopka and Ocoee, and around the west side of Walt Disney World to connect southwest of Kissimmee.
• TheApopka Bypass (SR 414), is a partial tollway beginning atUS 441 Orange Blossom Trail west of Apopka to Maitland Blvd at US 441 south of Apopka. From there, the road continues as "Maitland Blvd", but is a surface road. The spur west of Apopka will eventually run north to begin the "Wekiva Expressway".

The Beachline, Central Florida GreeneWay, East-West Expressway and Western Expressway are all run by theCentral Florida Expressway Authority. Florida's Turnpike and portions of tollways not inside Orange County are run byFlorida's Turnpike Enterprise, a special district of theFlorida Department of Transportation.

Major surface highways includeUS 17,US 92 andUS 441 (which overlap through Orlando asOrange Blossom Trail),US 27 (Claude Pepper Highway),US 192 (Irlo Bronson Highway),SR 50 (Colonial Drive and Cheney Highway),John Young Parkway, andInternational Drive.

Bus transportation in Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties is provided byLYNX. LYNX operates 88 routes as of January 28, 2019. LYNX provides service on local, limited-stop (FastLink), and neighborhood, on-demand circulator routes (NeighborLink).

Lynx had express routes into Clermont and Volusia County, but these were eliminated in 2014 due to the opening of SunRail. Volusia County is primarily served locally byVotran and Lake County is primarily served locally byLakeXpress.

TheSunRail opened for operation in 2014 and the second phase expansion into Osceola County opened on July 30, 2018, with terminal stations at Poinciana and DeBary. Studies are being conducted to extend SunRail to Orlando International Airport (OIA) and Deland.

SunRail (formerly referred to as Central Florida Commuter Rail) is a commuter rail system in the Greater Orlando, Florida area, linking Poinciana to DeBary through Downtown Orlando. Phase 1 opened in May 2014, and ran between DeBary and Sand Lake Station. Phase II opened in July 2018 and extended to Poinciana through Osceola County with the addition of four new stations.

Church Street Station, once a stop along theAtlantic Coast Line Railroad, has since been redeveloped as an urban night life center, while the station itself will serve as Downtown Orlando's centerpiece SunRail stop.

Amtrak serves stations in the area inKissimmee,Orlando,Winter Park,Sanford andDeLand. The Sanford station is the southern terminus for theAuto Train, which transports people and their vehicles, without intermediate station stops, directly to Washington, D.C., viaLorton, Virginia.

The other stations are served by theSilver Meteor andSilver Star, which both travel to New York City. The difference between the two lines is their paths through the states ofSouth Carolina andNorth Carolina:Silver Meteor takes a coastal route throughCharleston, South Carolina, andFayetteville, North Carolina, whileSilver Star moves inland throughColumbia, South Carolina, andRaleigh, North Carolina.

Orlando was eastern terminus of the AmtrakSunset Limited, until damage to train bridges caused byHurricane Katrina in 2005 halted service east ofNew Orleans. As of April 2017^[update], restoration of Amtrak service from New Orleans to Orlando appears to be unlikely.^[49]

Orlando is usually named as the initial focus of plans for aFlorida High Speed Rail system in which the majority of its residents had supported, but 2.4 billion dollars of federal funding for this new system were refused by GovernorRick Scott of Florida after taking office in January 2011. Scott said that Florida taxpayers would be stuck with paying for expected large cost overruns if the rail system were built.^[50]

Orlando will be served byBrightline atOrlando International Airport's new intermodal terminal. Current service runs fromMiami toWest Palm Beach, with construction to Orlando to begin in March 2019. In addition, an extension of Brightline toTampa is also proposed.

AChinatown (Chinese:奥兰多唐人街;pinyin:Àolánduō táng rén jiē) is situated at 5060 West Colonial Drive (located outside city limits) as of 2002. According to the West Orlando News, the Chinatown features a monument ofSun Yat Sen, a donation from his granddaughter Lily Sun who unveiled it on the 87th anniversary of his death in 2012, making this the first commercial location to hold such a monument.^[51] In March 2013, apaifang was unveiled at the entrance to the Chinatown plaza, "... helping legitimize the plaza as a center for Chinese commerce."^[52] The Chinatown features an eclectic blend of Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese and Indian cultures through its numerous pan-Asian businesses.^[53][54]

According to an article by the Orlando Weekly, the location of Orlando's Chinatown was once the Westside Crossing Plaza, which was aWalmart shopping center with aPublix supermarket. In 2003, the old shopping center was converted to house "... 60 pan-Asian businesses and restaurants." Financing for the project came from Chinese investors.^[55]

The Orlando Sentinel further states that "... by retrofitting the mostly vacant strip center, which includes a former Wal-Mart discount store and Publix supermarket, a group of out-of-state Chinese investors are hoping to draw more than 60 Asian-owned businesses to the site by the end of the year. " The article states that this is "... creating what the project's developers are calling the region's first Chinatown." The amenities include bakeries, restaurants, and an Asian grocery store. So the article further elaborates by saying "... finally, there's a place to buy cuttlefish and black chicken."^[56]

Since the project was a success, its report on its conceptualization and development is used as a reference for the real estate and tourism industries.^[57]

The primary newspaper of the area is the dailyOrlando Sentinel, owned byTribune Company. It was created as theOrlando Sentinel-Star in 1973 when theOrlando Morning Sentinel and theOrlando Evening Star were merged. It dropped "Star" from the name in 1982. It is also served by various weekly and semi-weekly papers, includingOrlando Weekly,The West Orange Times,The East Orlando Sun and theOsceola News-Gazette inKissimmee.

The extended area is also covered byThe Daytona Beach News-Journal andFlorida Today.

Greater Orlando makes up a large portion of the "Orlando–Ocala–Daytona Beach, FL"DMA, which ranks No. 19 in size with 1,466,420 households in 2007–08 according toNielsen Media Research.^[58]

All six major broadcast networks are represented in Orlando with their own channels. WESH brought NBC to Orlando when it moved its main operations from Daytona Beach to Eatonville in 1991.

• Central Florida
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28°32′24″N81°22′48″W / 28.54000°N 81.38000°W /28.54000; -81.38000

• Geography of Florida
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