Tamarac, Florida

Tamarac is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is part of the busy Miami metropolitan area. In the year 2020, when people counted how many lived there, Tamarac had 71,897 residents. The city is a place where families and individuals make their homes, adding to the lively community in Florida.

History

In the early 1960s, a developer named Ken Behring came from the Midwest and bought land to build a community for older adults. He named the city Tamarac after the Tamarac Country Club in Oakland Park.

In 1963, the first homes were built east of State Road 7. More homes followed in different areas, including places called Tamarac Lakes North and the Woodlands. The city's leaders wanted Tamarac to stay a quiet place to live, so they let nearby Fort Lauderdale take over some business areas. Later, they changed some of these decisions, but the city stayed mostly a place for homes as Ken Behring had planned.

Geography

Tamarac is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area. The city covers a total area of 12.1 square miles (31.3 km²), with 11.6 square miles (30.1 km²) being land and 0.46 square miles (1.2 km²) being water.

Climate

Tamarac has a tropical climate, much like the climate in the Caribbean. It is one of the few areas in the 48 contiguous states with this kind of climate. Specifically, it has a tropical monsoon climate.

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition

2020 census

According to the 2020 census, Tamarac had a population of 71,897 people. The average age of residents was 47.5 years. About 16.8% of the people were younger than 18, and 25.9% were 65 years or older. For every 100 women, there were 82.4 men, and for every 100 women aged 18 and above, there were 78.5 men in the same age group.

All residents lived in urban areas, with no one living in rural areas. There were 31,461 homes in Tamarac, with 23.3% of them having children under 18 living there. Most homes were either led by married couples (38.7%) or by women without a spouse present (38.1%). About 32.8% of homes had just one person living in them, and 18.8% of these were people aged 65 or older.

There were 34,006 places to live, but 7.5% of them were empty. The rate of empty homes owned by people was 1.8%, while the rate of empty rental homes was 7.4%.

2010 census

The 2010 United States census recorded 60,427 people living in Tamarac, along with 27,833 homes and 15,279 families.

2000 census

In the year 2000, Tamarac’s population was spread out across different age groups: 13.4% were under 18, 5.3% were between 18 and 24, 23.5% were between 25 and 44, 20.1% were between 45 and 64, and 37.8% were 65 or older. The average age was 53 years. For every 100 women, there were 80.9 men, and for every 100 women aged 18 and above, there were 77.3 men.

In 2000, 15.4% of homes had children under 18, while 44.8% were homes with married couples. About 9.4% of homes were led by women without a husband, and 42.6% were not families. Around 36.3% of homes had just one person, and 23.0% of these were people aged 65 or older. The average number of people per home was 2.00, and the average number per family was 2.56.

The average income for a home in Tamarac was $34,290, and for a family, it was $41,927. Men earned an average of $32,317, while women earned $28,360. The average income for each person was $22,243. About 6.1% of families and 8.9% of all people lived below the poverty line, including 13.5% of those under 18 and 7.2% of those 65 or older.

In 2000, most people spoke English as their first language (78.08%), followed by Spanish (13.69%). Other languages spoken included Yiddish (1.90%), French (1.15%), Haitian Creole (1.12%), Italian (1.08%), German (0.62%), and Hebrew (0.52%).

Tamarac has become more diverse over time, with many people from Latin American and Caribbean ancestry. In 2000, Tamarac was the fifty-first most Colombian-populated area in the U.S., with 2.74% of the population. It was also tied for the thirty-second highest percentage of Jamaicans in the U.S., at 4.1% of all residents, along with Royal Palm Beach and Goulds.

Education

Broward County Public Schools runs the public schools in Tamarac. Some elementary schools in Tamarac include Challenger Elementary School and Tamarac Elementary School. Other nearby elementary schools serving parts of Tamarac are Discovery Elementary School (Sunrise), Pinewood Elementary School (North Lauderdale), Park Lakes Elementary School (Lauderdale Lakes), Oriole Elementary School (Lauderdale Lakes), and Lloyd Estates Elementary School (Oakland Park).

The only public school covering grades 6 to 12 in Tamarac is Millennium 6–12 Collegiate Academy. It started offering high school classes in 2017. Most of Tamarac is zoned to middle schools, but high school students usually go to nearby schools like J. P. Taravella High School in Coral Springs or Piper High School in Sunrise. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami also runs Saint Malachy School in Tamarac.