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

Taylor County covers 1,043 square miles and has been called the “Tree Capital of the South” since 1965, and about 21,000 people live here. Hurricane Idalia came ashore near Keaton Beach in 2023, and Hurricane Helene made landfall about 10 nautical miles southwest of Perry thirteen months later.

This guide is for people buying in Perry or on the coast, and for owners thinking about a refinance. It covers the towns and the coast, how the loan limits work, the county’s SHIP help and the state programs, homestead, what Idalia, Debby and Helene did to Keaton Beach and Steinhatchee, and the county offices you’ll need.

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

  • County seatPerry
  • Founded1856, from Madison County
  • PopulationAbout 21,000
  • Land area1,043 sq mi
  • Named forPresident Zachary Taylor
  • FHA limit, 1 unit$541,287 in 2026
  • Conventional limit, 1 unit$832,750 in 2026
  • School districtTaylor County School District

Perry and the Taylor County coast

Perry is the county seat and the only city. The rest of the county is communities: Steinhatchee, Keaton Beach and Dekle Beach on the Gulf, and Foley, Fenholloway, Hampton Springs, Salem and Shady Grove inland.

Taylor County was created from Madison County in 1856 and named for Zachary Taylor, the 12th U.S. president. Perry is named for Madison Perry, Florida’s fourth governor, and its motto is “North Florida’s Shining Star.”

Perry

Perry incorporated in 1903 and sits about 50 miles southeast of Tallahassee. Perry-Foley Airport is about 3 miles south of downtown, and Forest Capital Museum State Park is at 204 Forest Park Drive. Big Bend Transit runs the Perry Shuttle bus route through town.

Steinhatchee

Steinhatchee sits at the mouth of the Steinhatchee River on the Gulf, about 38 miles south of Perry, with Jena in Dixie County across the river. Its economy has long run on cedar forestry, fishing, crabbing and scalloping, and State Road 51 is the road in.

Keaton Beach

Keaton Beach is about 22.5 miles south of Perry. It grew from a mullet-fishing camp, is named for Abb and Sam Keaton, and is mostly privately owned homes; 337 acres were sold to Keaton Beach, Inc. after 1946.

Hodges Park is the county’s main public beach, with a fishing pier and play area, and the county’s main public boat ramp is here too.

Dekle Beach

Dekle Beach is a Gulf community that sat at the northwest end of the stretch where Hurricane Idalia’s surge ran 7 to 12 feet in 2023.

Taylor County homes and the county’s loan limits

Taylor housing splits between Perry and the inland communities around it and the Gulf communities of Keaton Beach, Dekle Beach and Steinhatchee. Keaton Beach is mostly privately owned homes, and the coast took the brunt of three hurricanes in thirteen months.

Hurricane Helene destroyed about four of every five buildings in Keaton Beach and Steinhatchee in 2024, according to the National Hurricane Center. If you’re buying on that part of the coast, ask the seller what was repaired or rebuilt after the storm and when.

If you’re renting in Perry, call 888-601-8344 and we’ll compare your rent with what a mortgage payment on a Taylor County home would run.

The FHA and Conventional limits for Taylor County are in the table below. HUD and FHFA reset them every January, and the table picks up the new figures by itself.

Loan limits in Taylor 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.

The FHA minimum is 3.5% down for buyers with a credit score of 580 or higher. On an example $150,000 purchase, which isn’t meant as a local price, that’s $5,250 down, and a statewide down payment program can cover part or all of it. Call or text us at 954-816-8820 with the Perry or coastal address and we’ll price the loan, the flood coverage and the cash you’d need.

On any coastal home, get the flood zone and an insurance quote before you make an offer. Both go into your monthly payment.

Down payment help for Taylor County buyers

Taylor County runs a SHIP program for first-time buyers and home repairs, and Florida Housing’s statewide programs work anywhere in the county. The county program depends on state SHIP money and stops taking applications when funds run out, so the statewide programs matter a lot here.

Taylor County SHIP First-Time Homebuyer Down Payment Assistance

Taylor County’s SHIP program helps very low to moderate income buyers with down payment and closing costs. The county holds a 5-year second mortgage, repaid on a prorated basis if you sell or stop living in the home, and you need a lender pre-approval to apply. Government Services Group administers it for the county, (850) 681-3717.

The county stops taking applications when SHIP money runs out and advertises in the local paper when funds return. Call 888-601-8344 and we’ll keep an eye out for the Perry notice and tell you what the program pays when it opens.

Official program page

Taylor County SHIP repair and reconstruction

SHIP also pays for repairs for very low and low income owners and can fund demolition and rebuilding for very low income owners whose homes can’t be saved.

Repair money runs on the same funding cycle as purchase help. If your house still needs work from Idalia or Helene, text us at 954-816-8820 and we’ll check whether county repair money is available, and price a cash-out refinance next to it.

Official program page

Florida Hometown Heroes (statewide)

Florida Housing’s Hometown Heroes program pairs a 30-year fixed first mortgage with a 0% down payment and closing cost second, and it works on a home anywhere in Taylor County. The second is a 0% loan with no monthly payment, repaid when you sell, refinance, pay off the home or move out, and Florida Housing doesn’t forgive it. At least one of the buyers needs full-time work with an eligible Florida-based employer in health care, K-12 schools, first response, public safety, the courts or licensed child care. Active-duty members of the military qualify with any employer, and veterans, Reserve and National Guard members qualify with full-time work for a Florida-based employer.

Florida Housing allows one use of its assistance per lifetime, and you apply through a participating lender or broker. Call 888-601-8344 first so it goes on the right Perry or coastal home, and we’ll check the county’s limits and whether funds are open for your purchase.

Official program page

FL Assist and HFA Preferred (statewide)

FL Assist adds a 0% second you don’t make payments on, repaid when you sell, refinance, transfer the home or move out, and it goes behind a Florida Housing first mortgage: FHA, VA, USDA, or a Conventional HFA Preferred or HFA Advantage loan. The FL HLP second carries a small fixed monthly payment over 30 years, and HFA Advantage PLUS pairs a Freddie Mac Conventional first with a second forgiven over 5 years while you live in the home.

What these seconds pay shifts with Florida Housing’s funding through the year. Text us at 954-816-8820 and we’ll find out which one has money for a home in Perry, Steinhatchee or Keaton Beach.

Official program page

FHA 100% financing pairs a 96.5% FHA first mortgage with a down payment assistance second, and that can mean bringing no down payment of your own. Call us before you write an offer and we’ll tell you which statewide programs have money that week, whether county SHIP is open, and how they work with your loan.

Property taxes and your homestead exemption

File for the Florida homestead exemption with the Taylor County Property Appraiser on the home you live in. It can lower the taxable value by as much as $50,000, the first $25,000 off all property taxes and the rest off non-school taxes. It brings the home under Save Our Homes, which limits yearly assessment increases to 3% or the change in CPI, whichever is lower, and some or all of that savings can be ported to your next Florida homestead.

Taylor’s filing deadline is March 1 of the year after you buy. Eligibility is set by who owns the home on January 1, and a late filing can cost you the exemption for that whole tax year.

With a mortgage, taxes usually go through an escrow account, and the loan servicer pays the Taylor County bill out of it.

Taylor County offices

Taylor County Administrative Complex, 201 E. Green St., Perry

Phone: (850) 838-3500

County website: taylorcountygov.com

Homestead goes to the Taylor County Property Appraiser and tax bills come from the Tax Collector. Call us and we’ll point you to both.

Three hurricanes in thirteen months on the Taylor coast

In 2023, Hurricane Idalia made landfall near Keaton Beach around 7:45 a.m. on August 30, with winds estimated at 115 mph. The National Hurricane Center’s report placed it behind only the 1896 Cedar Key Hurricane and Hurricane Easy in 1950 among hurricanes to strike the Big Bend up to then. Surge ran 8 to 12 feet above ground from Keaton Beach through Steinhatchee, a high-water mark near Steinhatchee reached 9.6 feet above mean higher high water, and homes there flooded 5 to 7 feet deep. The Steinhatchee River gauge rose 7.2 feet in one hour. Idalia cut power to nearly every customer in the county, 13,393 of them, and toppled a gas station canopy in Perry.

In 2024, Hurricane Debby came ashore just west of Steinhatchee on August 5 as a 70-knot Category 1, with 4 to 5 feet of inundation from Steinhatchee toward Cedar Key and 2 to 4 feet from Keaton Beach west to the Aucilla River.

About seven weeks later, Hurricane Helene made landfall about 10 nautical miles southwest of Perry around 11:10 p.m. on September 26 as a Category 4 with a 939 mb pressure. Peak surge ran 12 to 16 feet above ground from just west of Keaton Beach through Steinhatchee, with a 15.3-foot high-water mark at Keaton Beach, and Perry recorded an 86-knot gust. Earlier, in 2016, Hurricane Hermine produced three confirmed tornadoes in the county.

  • Before you make an offer anywhere from Dekle Beach to Steinhatchee, look up the address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center. An FHA, VA or other federally backed loan requires flood insurance on a home in a high-risk zone, one starting with A or V.
  • Check the evacuation zone with Florida’s Know Your Zone lookup, and see the county’s evacuation and storm surge maps from Taylor County Emergency Management, 591 E. US Highway 27, Perry, 850-838-3575.
  • Ask for a homeowners quote while you’re still in your inspection period. After Debby and Helene, ask about the roof’s age and condition, and order a wind mitigation inspection, which can lower the premium.
  • Sign up for Alert Taylor County, the county’s emergency alert system. The county also keeps a Multi-Jurisdictional Local Mitigation Strategy for storm planning.

Work, schools and getting around

Forestry is the county’s heritage: Gov. W. Haydon Burns announced the “Tree Capital of the South” name in 1965, and Forest Capital Museum State Park tells that story. On the coast, Steinhatchee has long relied on cedar forestry, fishing, crabbing and scalloping.

Perry-Foley Airport (FAA 40J), at 401 Industrial Park Dr., is a general aviation field with three runways, the longest 5,013 feet, plus fuel and T-hangars. It doubles as the county’s alternate Emergency Operations Center.

Schools

Public schools are run by the Taylor County School District, the School Board of Taylor County, with its office at 318 North Clark St in Perry, 850-838-2500. The district office on North Clark Street can tell you which schools an address is zoned for.

Getting around

US 19 is the main north-south road. US 27, US 27 Alternate, US 98, US 221 and State Road 51, the road to Steinhatchee, also serve the county. Big Bend Transit runs the Perry Shuttle bus route.

Perry-Foley Airport offers self-service fuel, T-hangars and a courtesy car for pilots, with no airline service listed. Tallahassee is about 50 miles northwest of Perry.

Pines, scallops and the Gulf

Forest Capital Museum State Park

The museum in Perry covers longleaf pines and the roughly 5,000 products made from them. A trail runs under longleaf pines to a 19th-century cracker homestead.

Florida Forest Festival

The Florida Forest Festival is held every year in Taylor County, the Tree Capital of the South.

Scallop season

Steinhatchee falls in FWC’s Fenholloway through Suwannee Rivers zone for bay scallops, and the season runs in summer. Check FWC’s posted dates and bag limits each year before you go. Keaton Beach is known for summer scalloping too.

Hodges Park, Keaton Beach

Hodges Park is the county’s primary public beach, with a fishing pier and a play area, and the main public boat ramp is in Keaton Beach.

St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge

The refuge, established in 1931, covers more than 86,000 acres along about 43 miles of Gulf coast in Wakulla, Jefferson and Taylor counties.

The Steinhatchee River

The tidal Steinhatchee River meets the Gulf at Steinhatchee, with Jena on the Dixie County side, and its USGS gauge rose 7.2 feet in one hour during Idalia.

Moving to Taylor County: your first-month checklist

  • Electric and water: providers differ between Perry and the coast, so get the names and a current bill from the seller before closing.
  • County government: Taylor County Administrative Complex, 201 E. Green St., Perry, (850) 838-3500.
  • Homestead: get your application to the Taylor County Property Appraiser by March 1 of the year after you close.
  • Storm prep: Taylor County Emergency Management, 591 E. US Highway 27, Perry, 850-838-3575. Sign up for Alert Taylor County.
  • Library card: the Taylor County Public Library is a county department.
  • Schools: Taylor County School District, 318 North Clark St, Perry, 850-838-2500.

Buying or refinancing in Taylor County with AAA Capital Funding

Buying a home

Most of our Taylor County buyers use FHA: 3.5% down, flexible credit guidelines, and it pairs with Florida Housing’s down payment programs. VA loans with no down payment for eligible veterans, Conventional loans, Hometown Heroes and FHA 100% financing are all on the table too.

AAA Capital Funding has been a licensed Florida mortgage broker since 1997 and lends in all 67 Florida counties statewide, rural Big Bend counties included. We shop your loan with multiple wholesale lenders and tell you what you qualify for before you make an offer in Perry or on the coast.

Refinancing the home you have

On a Taylor County home, a refinance can lower your monthly payment, pay for repairs left over from Idalia or Helene, put on a new roof, pay off higher-interest debt, or buy someone else off the title.

Call 888-601-8344 and we’ll lay your current payment beside the new one, with the cash out and closing costs spelled out.

Taylor County questions we hear a lot

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

Taylor’s FHA limits for one to four units and its Conventional limit are in the table on this page, updated from HUD’s published figures. HUD and FHFA reset them every January.

Is there down payment assistance in Taylor County?

Yes. The county’s SHIP program helps first-time buyers when it has money, and it advertises in the local paper when funds return. Florida Housing’s statewide programs, including Florida Assist and Hometown Heroes, work anywhere in Taylor County. Call us and we’ll check what’s open.

When do I file for homestead in Taylor County?

File with the Taylor County Property Appraiser by March 1 of the year after you buy. Who owns the home on January 1 decides the year.

How far is Steinhatchee from Perry?

Steinhatchee is about 38 miles south of Perry, reached on State Road 51. Keaton Beach is about 22.5 miles south of Perry.

Do I need flood insurance in Taylor County?

Yes, on a federally backed mortgage, when FEMA maps the home in a high-risk zone. On this coast, Idalia pushed 8 to 12 feet of surge and Helene 12 to 16 feet, so get a flood quote on any home near the water before you make an offer.

Sources for this guide (26)
  1. U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Taylor County, FL
  2. Taylor County, Florida (Wikipedia, history and roads)
  3. Perry, Florida (Wikipedia)
  4. Steinhatchee, Florida (Wikipedia)
  5. Keaton Beach, Florida (Wikipedia)
  6. Florida State Parks: Forest Capital Museum
  7. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge
  8. Taylor County: Perry-Foley Airport
  9. Taylor County: SHIP and CDBG
  10. Florida Housing: Hometown Heroes
  11. Florida Housing: Homebuyer programs
  12. Florida Department of Revenue: Property tax exemptions
  13. Leon County Property Appraiser: Homestead deadline
  14. National Hurricane Center: Hurricane Idalia report
  15. National Weather Service: Hurricane Idalia impacts
  16. National Hurricane Center: Hurricane Debby report
  17. National Hurricane Center: Hurricane Helene report
  18. National Weather Service: Hurricane Hermine
  19. Taylor County Emergency Management
  20. Taylor County Government
  21. Taylor County departments
  22. Florida Division of Emergency Management: Know Your Zone
  23. FEMA Flood Map Service Center
  24. FWC: Bay scallop season
  25. Taylor County School District
  26. Taylor County Government

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