Sources & methodology.

Every number on this site traces to a primary source. Here's the full list. Updated quarterly.

Population & growth

• US Census Bureau, Vintage 2024 + 2025 Metropolitan/Micropolitan Population Estimates
• USAFacts, Marion County migration data
• U-Haul Annual Growth Cities Report
• Ocala / Marion County Chamber & Economic Partnership (CEP), Economic Overview slide deck

Real estate

• Redfin Ocala Housing Market, refreshed monthly
• Zillow Home Value Index for Ocala (53673)
• Realtor.com / FRED median Days on Market series for the Ocala MSA (CBSA 36100)
• American Community Survey (ACS) 2024 1-year median home value

Schools

• Florida Department of Education, School Accountability Reports (2023-24)
• Niche.com, K-12 District + School Rankings 2025/26
• GreatSchools, individual school ratings
• PrivateSchoolReview, verified profiles for tuition / enrollment
• Marion County Public Schools, official charter/magnet listings + attendance boundaries

Crime & safety

• FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR), 2024 data, city + county aggregates
• Florida Department of Law Enforcement, FIBRS (Florida Incident-Based Reporting) 2024
• Ocala Police Department public reporting (Chief Mike Balken, March 2025)
• CrimeByCity national percentile model (built on FBI UCR)

Demographics

• American Community Survey (ACS) 2024 1-year, MSA-level
• Census Reporter, aggregated profiles
• Florida Office of Economic & Demographic Research (EDR) projections

Local context

• Ocala-News.com, Ocala Star-Banner, 352Today, Ocala Magazine, local reporting
• City-Data.com forums, Reddit r/ocala, "Moving to Ocala FL" Facebook groups, qualitative signals (used carefully, never as primary source)
• Independent realtor / broker site neighborhood profiles, cross-referenced against MLS data

We refresh real estate data monthly and crime/school data on the FBI/FL DOE release cadence. Errors? Email hello@ocalaunfiltered.com with the citation and we'll correct it.