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

Hernando County covers about 473 square miles of land, from Bayport, the old port town on the Gulf, to the rolling hills around Brooksville, where Chinsegut Hill rises to 269 feet, the county’s highest point. About 220,000 people live here, most of them in and around Spring Hill.

We wrote this for Hernando buyers and homeowners who want the local details before they sign anything: how the loan limits work, the county’s SHIP purchase help, how homestead works here, why sinkhole coverage comes up so often, and the utilities and phone numbers you’ll need.

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

  • County seatBrooksville
  • Founded1843, named for Hernando de Soto
  • PopulationAbout 220,000
  • Land area473 sq mi
  • Highest pointChinsegut Hill, 269 ft
  • FHA limit, 1 unit$541,287 in 2026
  • Conventional limit, 1 unit$832,750 in 2026
  • School districtHernando County School District

Brooksville, Spring Hill and the rest of Hernando County

Brooksville is the one city in Hernando County. Spring Hill, Weeki Wachee, Ridge Manor, Ridge Manor West, Masaryktown, Garden Grove, Istachatta, Croom and Bayport are communities outside it, and Spring Hill is by far the biggest of them.

The county was created in February 1843 and named for the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto. It was renamed Benton County in 1844, for Senator Thomas Hart Benton, and got the Hernando name back in 1850. In 1887 the original county was split into Pasco, Citrus and Hernando, and its borders haven’t changed since.

Brooksville

Brooksville is the county seat, incorporated on October 13, 1880, on rolling ground that runs from about 100 to 180 feet above sea level. Historic homes line its brick streets, and the city has a historic walking and driving tour. The Brooksville Railroad Depot Museum is in town.

Spring Hill

Spring Hill is the county’s largest community, about 62 square miles, founded in 1967 by the Deltona Corporation and the Mackle Brothers as a planned community whose lots were sold nationally through heavy advertising. A waterfall marks the original entrance at US 19 and Spring Hill Drive, and Tampa is about 40 miles south.

Weeki Wachee

Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, at 6131 Commercial Way, has staged live mermaid shows in its first-magnitude spring since 1947. You can kayak the spring run, and the Buccaneer Bay water park is part of the park.

Bayport

Bayport was named county seat in 1854, and voters moved the seat inland in 1855. The old port town is home to Bayport Park, a county park on the Gulf.

Ridge Manor

Ridge Manor is where Walmart runs a distribution center of roughly 1.6 million square feet, one of the county’s big employers.

The airport and industrial park

Brooksville-Tampa Bay Regional Airport anchors a 155-acre Airport Industrial Park with more than 100 aviation, manufacturing and distribution businesses.

Chinsegut Hill

Chinsegut Hill stands at 269 feet, the county’s highest point, just over five miles north of Brooksville.

Hernando homes and how the loan limits work

Hernando is an ownership county, with most homes lived in by their owners. Much of Spring Hill traces back to the lots Deltona sold nationally starting in 1967, Brooksville’s older homes sit along brick streets, and the coast around Weeki Wachee and Bayport brings its own flood and surge questions. Anywhere in the county, the sinkhole question comes before the offer.

If you’re renting here, call 888-601-8344 and we’ll show you what your rent could buy instead.

Hernando is part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro. Its FHA and Conventional limits are in the table below, and HUD and FHFA reset them every January, so the table refreshes on its own each year.

Loan limits in Hernando 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 Hernando price: on a $300,000 purchase, FHA’s 3.5% minimum down payment is $10,500, and the county’s SHIP program can cover part or all of that. Call or text us at 954-816-8820 with the Spring Hill or Brooksville address and we’ll price the payment, taxes and insurance on that house.

Down payment help for Hernando County buyers

Hernando’s main local help is its SHIP purchase assistance, run by the county’s Affordable Housing Division with the Hernando County Housing Authority. Statewide Florida Housing programs work here too.

Hernando County SHIP Purchase Assistance

Hernando County lends first-time buyers an interest-free, deferred second mortgage that’s forgiven at the end of its term if you’re not in default. The amount depends on the price, your household income and any code repairs the house needs.

It’s for income-qualified buyers who haven’t owned a home in the past 3 years, and you need a lender pre-approval. Single-family homes and townhomes in Hernando qualify, but homes in a special flood hazard or repetitive-loss area and homes with unrepaired sinkholes don’t.

Housing and Supportive Services: 621 W. Jefferson St., Brooksville; (352) 540-4338.

The income limits and the award size change with each SHIP cycle, and the flood and sinkhole rules knock some houses out. Call 888-601-8344 before you pick a house and we’ll check with the Jefferson Street office that the home qualifies, what the county will lend on it, and that purchase money is there.

Official program page

Hernando County Affordable Housing Division

The Affordable Housing Division administers SHIP, NSP3 and Florida Small Cities CDBG money and provides down payment subsidies to first-time buyers through the local Housing Authority, and it posts the county’s SHIP Local Housing Assistance Plan.

Each of those funding streams runs on its own schedule. Text us at 954-816-8820 before you sign a Hernando contract and we’ll ask the division which subsidy can go on your Spring Hill or Ridge Manor purchase.

Official program page

Florida Hometown Heroes (statewide)

Hometown Heroes is Florida Housing’s program for working buyers: a 30-year fixed first mortgage plus a 0% down payment and closing cost second. No monthly payment is due on the second, and it isn't forgiven. You repay it when you sell, refinance or pay off the home, or when you no longer live in it.

One buyer must work full time for a Florida-based employer in health care, K-12 schools, first response, public safety, the courts or licensed child care, which covers a lot of people at the school district and Oak Hill Hospital. Hernando buyers on active duty qualify with any employer, and veterans and Reserve or National Guard members need to work full time for a Florida-based employer. It works with FHA, VA, USDA and Conventional firsts, and a homebuyer course is required.

You get Florida Housing help once in a lifetime, through a participating lender or broker only. Make it count on the right Hernando house and call us first at 888-601-8344.

Official program page

FL Assist, FL HLP and HFA Preferred (statewide)

FL Assist is a 0% deferred second from Florida Housing with no monthly payment, repaid when you sell, refinance, transfer the home or move out. It goes behind a Florida Housing first: FHA, VA, USDA, or Conventional through HFA Preferred or HFA Advantage. FL HLP is a second you pay down monthly over 30 years, and HFA Advantage PLUS brings a second that’s forgiven over 5 years while you live in the home.

Florida Housing reserves these one loan at a time, and the money can run out. Call or text us at 954-816-8820 and we’ll confirm which second is available for your Brooksville or Weeki Wachee offer before you write it.

Official program page

FHA 100% financing puts a 96.5% FHA first mortgage together with a down payment assistance second, and that second can cover the 3.5% down on a Spring Hill or Brooksville house instead of savings. Call 888-601-8344 before you write the offer and we’ll check which programs are funded and how each one works with your loan.

Property taxes and your homestead exemption

A Hernando home you live in as your primary residence qualifies for the Florida homestead exemption, worth up to $50,000. The first $25,000 comes off every tax, school taxes included, and the second $25,000 comes off non-school taxes on assessed value above $50,000. Save Our Homes then limits yearly increases in assessed value to 3% or the change in CPI, whichever is lower, and some or all of that difference can be ported to your next Florida homestead.

Homestead is set by who owns the home on January 1, so the March 1 filing deadline falls in the year after your purchase. The Property Appraiser has an office in Brooksville and a Westside office in Spring Hill, and takes homestead filings online. If your loan has an escrow account, it pays the tax bill each year.

Hernando County Property Appraiser

201 Howell Ave., Suite 300, Brooksville, FL 34601-2042

Westside Office: 7525 Forest Oaks Blvd., Spring Hill, FL 34606

Phone: (352) 754-4190

Property search: hernandocountypa-florida.us

Tax bills and payments: Hernando County Tax Collector

Sinkholes, storm surge and insurance in Hernando

Hernando, Pasco and Hillsborough are the three sinkhole alley counties, which together held about two-thirds of Florida sinkhole claims in state Office of Insurance Regulation data. A Florida Senate report counted 4,276 Citizens sinkhole claims in Hernando from 2006 to 2009, and in 2010 Hernando held the largest share of Citizens sinkhole claims of any county.

State law makes every Florida residential policy cover catastrophic ground cover collapse. Wider sinkhole loss coverage is something insurers must offer at an added premium, with a choice of sinkhole deductibles, and they can ask for an inspection before writing it.

The coast has its own risk. Hurricane Helene in 2024 pushed 6 to 9 feet of storm surge inundation along the coast from south of Cedar Key to the Anclote River, and a sensor on Pine Island in Hernando measured 8.84 feet above mean higher high water.

  • Ask the seller about past sinkhole claims and repairs, and price full sinkhole coverage before your inspection period ends. The Florida Geological Survey’s sinkhole helpline is 850-245-2118, and it publishes A Homeowner’s Guide to Sinkholes in Florida.
  • Before you offer on anything near the Hernando coast, where Helene’s surge reached 8.84 feet on Pine Island, check the flood zone on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center. A high-risk zone, one starting with A or V, means flood insurance on a federally backed loan, and the county’s SHIP purchase help won’t fund homes in special flood hazard areas.
  • Find your evacuation zone through Hernando County Emergency Management, which links to the state lookup tool, and sign up for county alerts through Everbridge. Shelter doors close at 40 mph sustained winds, and pets go to designated pet-friendly shelters.
  • Quote homeowners insurance early, with sinkhole coverage priced as its own line. The premium can come down with a wind mitigation inspection.

Jobs, schools and getting around

The Hernando County School Board, Oak Hill Hospital, Walmart, Publix, the Walmart distribution center in Ridge Manor and Hernando County Government are the names at the top of the county’s employer list. Out at Brooksville-Tampa Bay Regional Airport, the 155-acre Airport Industrial Park holds aviation, manufacturing and distribution businesses.

Citrus was the business a century ago: in the 1920s Brooksville was a major citrus area, billed as the Home of the Tangerine.

Schools and colleges

Public schools are run by the Hernando County School District.

Pasco-Hernando State College has locations in Brooksville and Spring Hill.

Getting around

US 19 runs along the western edge of the county, US 41 through the center, US 98 diagonally and US 301 across the eastern tip, with I-75 in the eastern part. SR 50, Cortez Boulevard, runs east-west through Brooksville. The Suncoast Parkway (SR 589) toll road was completed through Spring Hill in 2001 and links Hernando to Pasco and Hillsborough.

Brooksville-Tampa Bay Regional Airport is a general aviation field, and there’s no commercial airline service in the county.

Mermaids, trails and local favorites

Weeki Wachee mermaids

Weeki Wachee’s mermaids have performed live underwater shows since 1947. Next door at Buccaneer Bay, two of the four water slides drop riders straight into the natural spring.

Trails

The Withlacoochee State Trail, a state rail-trail, passes through Hernando County, and the Good Neighbor Trail is another named trail here. Croom Motorcycle Park gives off-road riders a place in the Croom area.

Preserves and county parks

Weeki Wachee Preserve, Annutteliga Hammock, Delta Woods Park and Tom Varn Park are among the county’s parks and natural areas, along with Bayport Park on the Gulf.

Brooksville history

The Brooksville Raid, a Civil War engagement, took place here in 1864. You can see the town’s past at the Brooksville Railroad Depot Museum or on the historic tour of homes along the brick streets.

Moving to Hernando County: your first-month checklist

  • Electric: Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative or Duke Energy Florida, depending on where the home is. Ask the seller which one serves the address, since that’s who you’ll call in an outage.
  • Water and sewer: Hernando County Utilities, 15365 Cortez Blvd., Brooksville, 352-754-4037, handles water and sewer billing and runs Septic-to-Sewer and Septic Upgrade Incentive programs. Check the county’s watering-day rules for your address.
  • Property taxes: paid through the Hernando County Tax Collector.
  • Homestead: file by March 1 of the year after you close, online or at the Property Appraiser’s Brooksville or Spring Hill office.
  • County questions: call (352) 754-4000 or go to hernandocounty.us.
  • Hurricane season: Emergency Management is at 18900 Cortez Blvd., Brooksville, (352) 754-4083, and posts an All Hazards Disaster Planning Guide online.

Buying or refinancing in Hernando County with AAA Capital Funding

Buying a home

Most of our Hernando buyers use FHA: 3.5% down, flexible credit guidelines, and it pairs with the county’s SHIP help. Eligible veterans can buy with VA and nothing down, and we also do Conventional loans, Hometown Heroes, DSCR loans for a Spring Hill rental and FHA 100% financing.

We’ve been a licensed Florida mortgage broker since 1997 and lend statewide in all 67 Florida counties, Hernando and its Pasco and Citrus neighbors included. Here that means getting the sinkhole and insurance questions answered early so they don’t hold up your closing, and we shop your loan with multiple wholesale lenders to get there.

Refinancing the home you have

A refinance can lower your monthly payment, take cash out for a roof, a septic-to-sewer hookup or other repairs, pay off higher-interest debt, or buy out a co-owner on the title.

Call 888-601-8344 and we’ll set your new payment, the cash you’d take out and the costs side by side, so you can decide with real numbers.

Hernando County questions we hear a lot

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

The loan limit table on this page shows it, along with the two- to four-unit FHA limits and the one-unit Conventional limit. HUD and FHFA reset those figures every January, and the table picks up the new ones automatically.

Is there down payment assistance in Hernando County?

Yes. The county’s SHIP purchase assistance is an interest-free deferred second for income-qualified first-time buyers, and Hometown Heroes and FL Assist are available in Hernando as well. SHIP money is limited and the house has to clear the flood and sinkhole rules, so let us confirm both before you plan around it.

Is Spring Hill a city?

No. Brooksville is Hernando’s only city. Spring Hill is the county’s largest community, a planned community the Deltona Corporation started in 1967. The Property Appraiser keeps a Westside office there at 7525 Forest Oaks Blvd.

When do I file for homestead in Hernando County?

By March 1 of the year after you buy, with the Hernando County Property Appraiser in Brooksville or Spring Hill, or online. Ownership on January 1 decides which year you’re filing for.

Do I need sinkhole insurance in Hernando County?

Your policy has to cover catastrophic ground cover collapse by law, but wider sinkhole coverage is an extra premium and the insurer may want an inspection. Hernando had the largest share of Citizens sinkhole claims in 2010, so price that coverage before your inspection period ends.

Sources for this guide (25)
  1. U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Hernando County, FL
  2. Hernando County, Florida (Wikipedia, history, roads, employers and parks)
  3. Brooksville, Florida (Wikipedia)
  4. Spring Hill, Florida (Wikipedia)
  5. Florida State Parks: Weeki Wachee Springs
  6. HUD: FHA mortgage limits lookup
  7. Hernando County: SHIP purchase assistance
  8. Hernando County: Affordable Housing
  9. Florida Housing: Hometown Heroes
  10. Florida Housing: Homebuyer programs overview
  11. Florida Department of Revenue: Homestead exemption (PT-113)
  12. Florida Department of Revenue: Property tax exemptions
  13. Hernando County Property Appraiser
  14. Hernando County Property Appraiser: Homestead filing
  15. Hernando County Tax Collector
  16. National Hurricane Center: Hurricane Helene report
  17. Florida Senate: Sinkhole insurance interim report
  18. Florida Statutes 627.706: Sinkhole coverage
  19. Florida Geological Survey: Sinkholes
  20. FEMA Flood Map Service Center
  21. Hernando County Emergency Management
  22. Hernando County Utilities
  23. Hernando County School District
  24. Pasco-Hernando State College: About
  25. Hernando County government

AAA Capital Funding, Inc. NMLS #374739. Jason J. Sarji, NMLS #374700. Licensed Florida mortgage broker serving Hernando 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 Hernando 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