Brevard County, Florida: A Local Guide for Home Buyers and Homeowners

Brevard County runs along about 72 miles of Atlantic beach, covers roughly 1,015 square miles of land, and is home to about 660,000 people. Its area code, 321, was picked to echo a launch countdown.

Here’s what we’d cover with you on the phone before you sign anything: the mainland, Merritt Island and the beachside, how the loan limits work, county and city down payment help, homestead, evacuation zones and insurance, and who to call after you move in.

Every source for this guide is listed at the bottom of the page.

  • County seatTitusville
  • Founded1844, as St. Lucie County
  • PopulationAbout 660,000
  • Land area1,015 sq mi
  • Atlantic beachesAbout 72 miles
  • FHA limit, 1 unit$541,287 in 2026
  • Conventional limit, 1 unit$832,750 in 2026
  • School districtBrevard Public Schools

Cities and communities across Brevard County

The Indian River Lagoon, the Banana River and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway run the length of Brevard, so the county splits into mainland towns along U.S. 1 and I-95, Merritt Island between the two rivers, and the barrier island along State Road A1A. The barrier islands and Merritt Island fall in Zone A, the county’s mandatory storm-surge evacuation area.

The county was created on March 14, 1844 as St. Lucie County and took the name Brevard in 1855, for Theodore Washington Brevard, Florida’s comptroller from 1854 to 1860. Titusville is the official county seat, and the county runs a second government center in Viera. People have lived along this coast a very long time: the Windover Archaeological Site near Titusville, found in 1982 and now a National Historic Landmark, holds burials dated to roughly 8,000 to 7,000 BC.

Titusville

Titusville is the official county seat, on the Indian River Lagoon. It was settled as Sand Point, renamed in 1873 for founder Henry T. Titus, incorporated in 1887, and called itself Space City USA in the 1960s. The American Space Museum & Space Walk of Fame there displays artifacts donated by astronauts and space workers.

Viera

The Viera Company, a subsidiary of A. Duda & Sons, broke ground on Viera on August 4, 1989, on the former Duda Cocoa Ranch. It covers about 14,500 acres, with roughly half set aside for conservation.

The Brevard County Government Center and Brevard Zoo are both here, and the zoo’s Boo at the Zoo runs on October weekends. USSSA, the United States Specialty Sports Association, moved into the former Space Coast Stadium in 2017.

Palm Bay

Palm Bay is the county’s most populous city and its largest by land area. It incorporated on January 16, 1960.

Much of the city grew out of General Development Corporation’s Port Malabar subdivision, platted starting in 1959, and L3Harris operates a large campus here. Turkey Creek Sanctuary, a small nature reserve, sits in the northeast part of the city.

Melbourne and Eau Gallie

Melbourne was called Crane Creek before it incorporated in 1888 and took the name of Melbourne, Australia. It merged with Eau Gallie in 1969 and is home to the L3Harris Technologies headquarters, Florida Tech and Melbourne Orlando International Airport.

The Eau Gallie Arts District on the Indian River became a Florida Main Street in 2010 and has galleries, shops, restaurants and a microbrewery.

Cocoa

Cocoa was chartered in 1895. Historic Cocoa Village runs along Florida Avenue and Stone Street down to Riverfront Park on the Indian River, and the Cocoa Village Playhouse fills the former Aladdin Theatre. The Florida Historical Society keeps its headquarters in the old Cocoa Post Office, built by the WPA in 1939.

Cocoa Beach

Cocoa Beach sits on the barrier island between the Atlantic and the Banana River and was established as a town in 1925. The Westgate Cocoa Beach Pier went up in 1962, Ron Jon Surf Shop opened its original store here in 1961, and the 1960s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie was set here.

Merritt Island

Merritt Island is an unincorporated community between the Indian and Banana rivers. In 1962 NASA acquired more than 200 square miles of the island for what became Kennedy Space Center.

Port Canaveral

Port Canaveral ranks among the busiest cruise ports in the world. Jetty Park at the port is a 35-acre park with a fishing pier, beach, trails and an RV campground.

Grant-Valkaria

Grant-Valkaria is the south-county town that hosts the volunteer-run Grant Seafood Festival each spring at the Grant Community Center, with parking at Valkaria Airport. The proceeds fund scholarships and the Grant library and historical house.

Homes across Brevard and how the loan limits work

Where you buy in Brevard changes the house and the paperwork more than most counties. Viera is the county’s large master-planned community, and its final expansion approval in 2006 covered 11,567 acres. In Palm Bay, the street grid and many of the homes date to General Development’s Port Malabar project, and the city bought GDC’s water plant after the company’s 1991 bankruptcy. On the beachside and on Merritt Island, homes sit in Zone A, which the county flags as a factor for insurance and flood coverage.

If you’re paying rent, call 888-601-8344 and we’ll set that rent next to a mortgage payment on a Brevard house you’ve picked out.

The FHA and Conventional limits for Brevard County are in the table below. HUD and FHFA reset them every January, and the table updates on its own when they do.

Loan limits in Brevard County for 2026 Maximum loan
FHA, single-family home $541,287
FHA, two-unit home $693,050
FHA, three-unit home $837,700
FHA, four-unit home $1,041,125
Conventional, single-family home $832,750

HUD sets the FHA limits and FHFA sets the Conventional limits for every county, and both change each January. This table refreshes itself from HUD's published figures.

Here’s an example with a round number, not a Brevard price: on a $350,000 purchase, FHA’s 3.5% minimum down payment is $12,250, and down payment assistance can cover part or all of it. Call or text us at 954-816-8820 with the listing and we’ll run the numbers on that exact house.

Before you write an offer on the beachside or on Merritt Island, look the address up on the county’s evacuation map and get an insurance quote. Those areas are in Zone A, and the quote belongs in your budget before you commit.

Down payment help for Brevard County buyers

Brevard buyers can look at a countywide SHIP program, separate SHIP programs in Melbourne and Palm Bay, and Florida Housing’s statewide programs. Each one has its own income rules, and Community Housing Initiative (C.H.I.) handles the local files.

Brevard County SHIP Purchase Assistance

Brevard County’s SHIP program makes a 0%, deferred-payment second mortgage for first-time buyers, meaning no ownership in the past 3 years. It’s for income-qualified households, the buyer puts in a small contribution, and a homebuyer education class is required. County Housing and Human Services sits at 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way in Viera, (321) 633-2007.

The county sets the amounts and the income tiers each funding cycle. Before you shop in Titusville, Cocoa or Port St. John, call 888-601-8344 and we’ll ask C.H.I. at (321) 253-0053 what the county SHIP loan pays and whether it’s taking files for that address.

Official program page

City of Melbourne Purchase Assistance (SHIP)

Melbourne’s program makes a deferred-payment loan, held as a lien for a set number of years, toward the down payment, closing costs and needed repairs on homes inside Melbourne city limits. Homebuyer education and counseling are required, and first-time buyers get preference.

Melbourne’s money moves on its own calendar, separate from the county’s. If the house is inside city limits, Eau Gallie included, text us at 954-816-8820 and we’ll check with C.H.I. what the city program covers on that home and whether there’s money behind it before you sign.

Official program page

City of Palm Bay Purchase Assistance with Rehabilitation (SHIP)

Palm Bay’s SHIP plan includes purchase assistance with rehabilitation or mitigation for income-qualified buyers who will live in the home, so the help can go toward fixing the house as well as buying it.

Palm Bay draws its buyers from a list, so timing matters. Call 888-601-8344 and we’ll find out from C.H.I. how the Palm Bay list is moving and what the help covers before you plan an offer around it.

Official program page

Florida Hometown Heroes (statewide)

Hometown Heroes is a Florida Housing purchase program: a 30-year fixed first mortgage plus a 0% down payment and closing cost second with no monthly payment. The second is deferred, not forgiven; you repay it when you sell, refinance or pay off the home, or stop living in it.

At least one buyer has to work full time for a Florida-based employer in health care, K-12 schools, first response, public safety, the courts or licensed child care. A Brevard buyer on active duty qualifies with any employer, and veterans and Reserve or National Guard members qualify by working full time for a Florida-based employer. It pairs with FHA, VA, USDA and Conventional loans, and a homebuyer education course is required.

You can use Florida Housing assistance once in a lifetime, and you apply only through a participating lender or broker. That’s a reason to pick the right Brevard house and the right lender the first time, so call us first at 888-601-8344.

Official program page

FL Assist and HFA Preferred (statewide)

FL Assist is a Florida Housing down payment and closing cost second mortgage at 0%, deferred, with no monthly payment. You repay it when you sell, refinance, transfer the home or move out. It rides behind a Florida Housing first mortgage: FHA, VA, USDA, or Conventional through HFA Preferred or HFA Advantage.

Florida Housing also offers the HLP second, with a small fixed monthly payment over 30 years, and HFA Advantage PLUS, a forgivable second that’s forgiven over 5 years while you keep living in the home. Funds are reserved loan by loan, so text us at 954-816-8820 and we’ll confirm which second is available on your Melbourne or Viera purchase before you write the offer.

Official program page

On a Palm Bay or Titusville purchase, FHA 100% financing can mean the buyer brings no down payment: we put a down payment assistance second behind a 96.5% FHA first mortgage. Brevard’s SHIP programs usually ask for a small buyer contribution, so call us before you write an offer and we’ll show which of these programs work on that house and what you’d bring to closing.

Property taxes and your homestead exemption

If the home will be your permanent residence, file for homestead with the Brevard County Property Appraiser. Florida’s homestead exemption takes up to $50,000 off the taxable value: the first $25,000 applies to all property taxes and the additional exemption applies to non-school taxes, and BCPAO applies the additional piece automatically.

Homestead also puts the home under Save Our Homes, which limits yearly increases in assessed value to 3% or the change in CPI, whichever is lower. Portability lets you carry some or all of that difference to your next Florida homestead.

The deadline is March 1 of the year after you buy, and you must own the home and live in it as your permanent residence on January 1. Close in the spring or the fall and BCPAO needs your application by March 1 of the following year.

Bring a Florida driver license or ID, your Florida vehicle registration, your Brevard voter registration if you have one, Social Security numbers for you and your spouse, and the recorded deed or a tax bill. Most buyers with a mortgage pay property taxes through escrow, folded into the monthly payment.

Brevard County Property Appraiser (BCPAO)

Brevard County Government Complex North, 400 South Street, 5th Floor, Titusville, FL 32780

Other offices: Viera (2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Bldg C), Melbourne (1515 Sarno Road) and Palm Bay (450 Cogan Drive SE)

Phone: (321) 264-6700

Homestead filing: bcpao.us/homestead

Property search: bcpao.us

Tax bills: Brevard County Tax Collector

Hurricanes, surge zones and insurance on the Space Coast

Brevard took two hurricanes within three weeks in 2004. Hurricane Frances came ashore on September 5 at the southern end of Hutchinson Island; Merritt Island Airport logged a 78-knot gust, Cocoa Beach saw an estimated 6 feet of storm surge, and space and military facilities at Cape Canaveral reported heavy damage.

Hurricane Jeanne followed three weeks later, on September 26, as a Category 3 at landfall near Stuart. It dropped 11 to 13 inches of rain on parts of the county, and surge of up to 6 feet likely occurred from Melbourne south to Fort Pierce.

During Hurricane Milton in 2024, an EF-1 tornado, estimated at 95 mph, came ashore at Cocoa Beach near Royale Towers, crossed A1A and the Banana River, and reached Merritt Island near Kelly Park.

  • Find your evacuation zone before you buy, using the county’s evacuation zone map and planning page. Zone A (red) is the mandatory storm-surge evacuation zone and covers the barrier islands, Merritt Island and some low-lying mainland areas.
  • Look up the flood zone on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center. A flood zone and an evacuation zone are different maps; if FEMA puts the house in a high-risk zone (one starting with A or V), an FHA, VA or other federally backed loan requires flood insurance.
  • Get the homeowners quote during your inspection period, especially beachside or on an older house. A wind mitigation inspection can bring the premium down.
  • Every Florida policy has to cover catastrophic ground cover collapse; wider sinkhole coverage is an optional add-on with its own premium.
  • Bookmark Brevard County Emergency Management. During a storm, call 2-1-1 to find open shelters, and register ahead if someone in the home needs a special-needs shelter.

Jobs, schools and getting around

Aerospace, aviation and high-tech manufacturing lead Brevard’s economy. L3Harris is headquartered in Melbourne and is the area’s largest aerospace employer. Boeing and Lockheed Martin have offices on the north Space Coast; Collins Aerospace, Leonardo DRS, Northrop Grumman and Embraer run major centers in the south county; and Blue Origin, SpaceX and OneWeb Satellites build and fly from here too.

NASA’s Kennedy Space Center sits on Merritt Island. The Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 45 is headquartered at Patrick Space Force Base and runs launch operations at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and the Eastern Range. In health care, Brevard-based Health First, operating since 1995, runs Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, Cape Canaveral Hospital in Cocoa Beach, Viera Hospital and Palm Bay Community Hospital, and Parrish Medical Center serves north Brevard from Titusville. Brevard Public Schools is one of the county’s largest workforces.

Schools and colleges

Brevard Public Schools runs the county’s public schools; start at brevardschools.org for enrollment and school information.

Eastern Florida State College has campuses in Cocoa, Melbourne, Palm Bay and Titusville, plus an Aviation Center at Melbourne Orlando International Airport. Florida Tech in Melbourne was founded in 1958 as Brevard Engineering College, a night school for the space program’s early missilemen.

Getting around

I-95 is the main north-south highway. U.S. 1, U.S. 192, State Road 50, State Road 500 and A1A on the beachside are the other key routes, and the county tourism office puts the coast about 45 minutes from Orlando.

Melbourne Orlando International Airport has commercial airline service. Up north, the Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority owns Space Coast Regional Airport in Titusville, the closest commercial-class field to Kennedy Space Center, and also runs Merritt Island Airport and Arthur Dunn Airpark.

Launches, beaches and local favorites

Canaveral National Seashore

Canaveral National Seashore was established on January 3, 1975 and covers about 57,662 acres in northeast Brevard and southeast Volusia. Playalinda, Klondike and Apollo beaches make up the longest stretch of undeveloped beach on Florida’s east coast, along a 24-mile barrier island.

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

The refuge covers 140,000 acres and was established in 1963 as an overlay of Kennedy Space Center. You’ll need a refuge pass for Black Point Wildlife Drive.

Sebastian Inlet State Park

Sebastian Inlet State Park, at 9700 South Highway A1A in Melbourne Beach, has the First Peak and Monster Hole surf breaks, fishing jetties, a campground and the McLarty Treasure Museum, which covers the 1715 Spanish treasure fleet.

Kennedy Space Center

The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex covers the space program’s past, present and future. The county tourism office promotes launch viewing along the Space Coast, and the Space Walk of Fame in Titusville keeps the early missions close to home.

Surf town traditions

The Westgate Cocoa Beach Pier has hosted an Easter surfing festival dating to 1964, and Cocoa Beach is home to the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame. Daily dolphin and manatee tours run to the Thousand Islands, mangrove islands in the Banana River. Beachside also hosts the Florida Key Lime Pie Festival on Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend.

Lagoon, river and sanctuaries

Dredging created 41 spoil islands in the Indian River, and sea turtles nest on Brevard’s beaches from March through October. Out west, the St. Johns River rises in the marshes of western Brevard, becomes navigable inside the county, and runs past Lake Washington, Lake Poinsett, Lake Winder and Sawgrass Lake. The voter-funded Environmentally Endangered Lands program manages roughly 24,000 acres of sanctuaries.

Moving to Brevard County: your first-month checklist

  • Driver license and tag: the Brevard County Tax Collector runs five service centers: Melbourne (1515 Sarno Rd), Merritt Island (1605 N. Courtenay Pkwy), Palm Bay (450 Cogan Dr), Titusville (800 S. Park Ave) and Viera (2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Blvd, Suite A108).
  • Water: the City of Cocoa’s water utility has supplied central Brevard since 1957, and Palm Bay runs the water plant it bought from General Development. Ask which utility serves your address before closing.
  • Homestead: apply at bcpao.us/homestead or at a BCPAO office in Titusville, Viera, Melbourne or Palm Bay before March 1 of the year after closing, with your new Florida license and registration in hand.
  • Evacuation zone: check the county map so you know whether your address is in Zone A.
  • Storm season: Brevard County Emergency Management is at (321) 637-6670, and the county’s Storm Center is at brevardfl.gov/StormCenter.
  • County questions: the county’s main line is (321) 633-2000.

Buying or refinancing in Brevard County with AAA Capital Funding

Buying a home

FHA is the loan most of our Brevard buyers use: 3.5% down, flexible credit guidelines, and it pairs with the SHIP and Florida Housing programs above. Eligible veterans and service members can buy with a VA loan and no down payment, which matters in a county built around Patrick Space Force Base and the Cape, and we also do Conventional loans, Hometown Heroes and FHA 100% financing.

We’ve been a licensed Florida mortgage broker since 1997 and lend statewide in all 67 Florida counties, so Mims to Grant-Valkaria is home turf, and so is a move to the next county over. We shop your loan with multiple wholesale lenders and give you a firm number before you start touring in Viera or on the beachside.

Refinancing the home you have

A refinance can lower your monthly payment, pull cash out for a new roof or storm shutters, pay off higher-interest debt, or buy out a co-owner’s share of the house. It’s how the equity in your Brevard home goes to work.

Call 888-601-8344 and we’ll show you the new payment, the cash you’d walk away with and the costs on one page for your Brevard home.

Brevard County questions we hear a lot

What is the FHA loan limit in Brevard County, Florida?

It’s in the loan limit table on this page, which pulls HUD’s published figures for Brevard. HUD resets FHA limits and FHFA resets Conventional limits every January, so the table always shows the numbers in effect for the year you’re buying.

Is there down payment assistance in Brevard County?

Yes. The county runs a SHIP program through Community Housing Initiative, Melbourne and Palm Bay run their own SHIP programs, and statewide programs like Hometown Heroes and FL Assist work here too. Amounts and funding change during the year, so call us and we’ll check which ones are paying on the house you want.

Is Merritt Island part of a city?

No, it’s unincorporated, so county government handles services there, not a city hall. It’s also in Zone A, Brevard’s mandatory storm-surge evacuation area, so price out insurance before you make an offer.

When do I file for homestead in Brevard County?

BCPAO takes homestead applications through March 1, and you have to own and live in the home as your permanent residence on January 1. So you file by March 1 of the year after you close, online or at any of its four offices.

Do I need flood insurance on the Space Coast?

Your lender will require it on a federally backed loan when FEMA puts the house in a high-risk flood zone. Your evacuation zone is a separate map, so check both, and since Hurricane Jeanne dropped up to 13 inches of rain on parts of the county in 2004, get a flood quote either way.

Sources for this guide (39)
  1. U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Brevard County, FL
  2. Brevard County, Florida (Wikipedia, history, geography and communities)
  3. Titusville, Florida (Wikipedia)
  4. Viera, Florida (Wikipedia)
  5. Palm Bay, Florida (Wikipedia)
  6. Melbourne, Florida (Wikipedia)
  7. Cocoa, Florida (Wikipedia)
  8. Cocoa Beach, Florida (Wikipedia)
  9. Space Coast Regional Airport (Wikipedia)
  10. Sebastian Daily: Grant Seafood Festival
  11. HUD: FHA mortgage limits lookup
  12. Brevard County SHIP Purchase Assistance Program
  13. City of Melbourne housing programs
  14. City of Palm Bay housing programs
  15. Florida Housing: Hometown Heroes
  16. Florida Housing: Homebuyer programs overview
  17. Florida Department of Revenue: Property tax exemptions
  18. Brevard County Property Appraiser
  19. BCPAO: Homestead exemption
  20. Brevard County Tax Collector
  21. NOAA National Hurricane Center: Hurricane Frances report
  22. NOAA National Hurricane Center: Hurricane Jeanne report
  23. National Weather Service Melbourne: Hurricane Milton impacts
  24. Brevard County Emergency Management: Have a plan
  25. Brevard County Emergency Management
  26. FEMA Flood Map Service Center
  27. Florida Statutes 627.706 (sinkhole coverage)
  28. Space Coast EDC: Industry profile
  29. Patrick Space Force Base: About
  30. Health First
  31. Brevard Public Schools
  32. Eastern Florida State College campuses
  33. Florida Tech: About
  34. National Park Service: Canaveral National Seashore
  35. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Merritt Island NWR
  36. Florida State Parks: Sebastian Inlet
  37. Visit Space Coast
  38. FLHSMV: Brevard County service centers
  39. FEMA Flood Map Service Center

AAA Capital Funding, Inc. NMLS #374739. Jason J. Sarji, NMLS #374700. Licensed Florida mortgage broker serving Brevard County and all 67 Florida counties since 1997. Equal Housing Opportunity.

You work with the same person from start to finish, in every county in Florida.

We've been closing Florida loans since 1997, in all 67 counties. If you want to know what's possible in Brevard County, call 888-601-8344 or text 954-816-8820. One call, under ten minutes. No application needed to start.

AAA Capital Funding, Inc. · NMLS #374739 · Jason J. Sarji, NMLS #374700