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

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Union County covers 243.56 square miles of North Florida, with the Santa Fe River on its southern line, and about 16,000 people live here. It became Florida’s 61st county on October 1, 1921, when Bradford County was divided, and the name Union was chosen to stand for unity after years of division.

We wrote this guide for people buying, refinancing or settling in around Lake Butler, Raiford and Worthington Springs. It covers how the loan limits and FHA math work, what kind of SHIP help the county offers buyers, where the tax offices are and how their early-payment discounts work, how storms and the river have hit the area, and which offices to call once you own the place.

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

County seatLake Butler
Founded1921, from Bradford County
PopulationAbout 16,000
Land area243.56 sq mi
RiversSanta Fe and New River
FHA limit, 1 unit$541,287 in 2026
Conventional limit, 1 unit$832,750 in 2026
School districtUnion County School District

Cities and areas
Homes and loan limits
Down payment help
Property taxes
Storms and insurance
Work, schools, roads
Parks and local favorites
Moving checklist
Buying or refinancing

Lake Butler, Raiford and Worthington Springs

Union County has three municipalities: the City of Lake Butler, the Town of Raiford and the Town of Worthington Springs. Johnstown and Rylander are unincorporated communities, so homes there fall under county government for permits and services.

The ground under Lake Butler has answered to a string of counties. It was part of St. Johns County in 1821, Duval in 1822, Alachua from 1828 to 1832 and Columbia after that. In 1858 the Legislature created New River County with Lake Butler as its seat. That county was renamed Bradford in 1861, Starke won a county seat election in the late 1890s, and in 1921 Bradford was split to form Union, which made Lake Butler a county seat again.

Lake Butler

Lake Butler is the county seat, and the Union County Courthouse stands at 55 W. Main St. The Tax Collector works out of Room 108 and the Property Appraiser out of Room 109, so your homestead filing, tag and driver license all happen under one roof.

The town and the lake both honor Col. Robert Butler, a U.S. Army officer who served as acting governor of East Florida. The town was platted in 1859, its post office has carried the Lake Butler name since 1860, and the city incorporated in May 1893.

Raiford

Raiford incorporated as a town in August 1971, but its story starts around 1895, when Hunter Warren Raiford, a naval stores man, settled here. The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad came through about 1900, and a post office followed.

Union Correctional Institution, which dates to 1913 and is run by the Florida Department of Corrections, sits in unincorporated Union County near the town.

Worthington Springs

Worthington Springs sits on the Santa Fe River at the county’s southern line with Alachua County, and the New River joins the Santa Fe there. The town takes its name from early settler Sam Worthington and incorporated in 1963.

In the early 1900s it was a resort. A mineral spring drew visitors from the late 1800s on, a new owner poured a 90 by 50 foot concrete pool in 1906 and added a hotel, a recreation hall and a bathhouse, and special trains ran from Jacksonville for Fourth of July crowds. The spring’s flow later dwindled and the resort was abandoned. The concrete bridge over the Santa Fe dates to 1937; it replaced an iron and timber bridge built in 1908.

Buying a home in Union County and the loan limits

Union County’s homes are in and around Lake Butler, Raiford and Worthington Springs, out in Johnstown and Rylander, and along the state roads between them. Only a few homes sell here in a typical stretch, so one closing can swing any countywide price, and we don’t print one. Tell us the address and we’ll pull the sales nearby.

If you rent in Lake Butler or anywhere else in the county, call 888-601-8344 and we’ll set a mortgage payment on a Union County house beside the rent you’re paying.

New construction is a small part of this market, so most buyers here are shopping existing homes. Get pre-approved with us before you call on a listing, so the seller knows you’re ready to close.

Loan limits in Union 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 and Conventional limits for Union County are in the table below. HUD and FHFA reset them every January, and the table updates itself from HUD’s figures.

Here’s the FHA math, as an example. On a $250,000 Union County home, FHA’s 3.5% minimum down payment is $8,750, and down payment assistance can cover some or all of it. Call or text us at 954-816-8820 with the address and we’ll work out the payment on that house.

Down payment help for Union County buyers

Union County’s SHIP program is the local source of purchase help, and the Suwannee River Economic Council office at 665 SE 4th St. in Lake Butler takes the applications. Florida Housing’s statewide programs can be layered on top for buyers who qualify for both, and Florida Housing treats you as a first-time buyer if you haven’t owned a primary residence in the past 3 years (veterans with a DD-214 can be exempt).

Union County SHIP purchase assistance

Union County’s SHIP housing plan offers purchase help, on homes that need repairs or don’t, as a 0% deferred loan secured by a second mortgage and forgiven a portion each year over its term. The award is tiered by household income, and the plan caps the price or value of the home.

Union’s yearly SHIP budget covers buyers and repairs together, and the award amounts change with each plan. Before your contract deadline, call 888-601-8344 and we’ll ask the Suwannee River Economic Council office on SE 4th Street, 386-496-2342, whether the purchase application is open and what it pays.

Union County housing plan (PDF)

Union County SHIP repair help

Owners already living in Union County can apply under the same plan for owner-occupied rehab, emergency repair grants and disaster assistance grants.

Repair requests go through the same Suwannee River Economic Council office in Lake Butler, and what’s funded depends on the year’s SHIP money. If the roof or the well can’t wait for a grant, call 888-601-8344 and we’ll price a cash-out refinance for the work.

Union County SHIP office listing

Florida Hometown Heroes (statewide)

In Union County, Florida Hometown Heroes means a Florida Housing 30-year fixed first mortgage plus a 0% second for the down payment and closing costs. You make no monthly payment on the second and it isn’t forgiven, so it gets repaid when you sell, refinance or pay off the Union County home, or stop living in it.

At least one buyer must work full time for an eligible Florida-based employer in health care, K-12 schools, first response, public safety, the courts or licensed child care, which takes in a teacher with the Union County School District. Active duty qualifies with any employer, and veterans and Reserve or National Guard members in Union County qualify by working full time for a Florida-based employer. FHA, VA, USDA and Conventional loans can all go with it.

A buyer gets Florida Housing assistance once in a lifetime, so it should go on the right home with the right lender. Limits vary by county and household size and money is reserved loan by loan, so call us first and we’ll check what Hometown Heroes pays on a Lake Butler or Raiford purchase.

Official program page

FL Assist and HFA Preferred / HFA Advantage (statewide)

FL Assist is a 0% deferred Florida Housing second for the down payment and closing costs that isn’t forgiven; you repay it when you sell, refinance, transfer the home or move out. It sits behind a Florida Housing first mortgage: FHA, VA, USDA or Conventional HFA Preferred or HFA Advantage.

For Union County buyers, HFA Advantage PLUS combines a Freddie Mac Conventional first and a second that’s forgiven over 5 years while you live in the home, and FL HLP is a second with a small fixed monthly payment spread over 30 years.

Florida Housing changes the amounts on these seconds. Call us and we’ll see which one works with a Union SHIP award on the house you want.

Official program page

FHA 100% financing pairs a 96.5% FHA first mortgage with a down payment assistance second, so the down payment on a Union County home can come from the second instead of your savings. Before you sign a contract in Lake Butler, Raiford or Worthington Springs, call 888-601-8344 and we’ll see which of these programs has money and line it up with your loan.

Property taxes and your homestead exemption

Once the house is your permanent home, file for Florida’s homestead exemption with the Union County Property Appraiser in Room 109 of the courthouse. It can take up to $50,000 off the taxable value, with the first $25,000 applying to all property taxes and the rest to non-school taxes. Save Our Homes then limits yearly increases in assessed value to 3% or the change in CPI, whichever is lower, and portability lets you carry some or all of that difference to your next Florida homestead.

You qualify by owning and living in the home on January 1, and Form DR-501 is due March 1 of the year after you buy.

The Union County Tax Collector gives the biggest discount when you pay in November and a smaller one each month through February. The gross amount is due March 31, and unpaid real property taxes go delinquent April 1. With an escrow account on your loan, the servicer pays the bill for you.

Union County Property Appraiser

55 W. Main St., Room 109, Lake Butler, FL 32054

Phone: 386-496-3431

Property search and exemptions: union.floridapa.com

Tax bills, tags and driver licenses: Union County Tax Collector, Room 108, 386-496-3331

Storms, the Santa Fe River and insurance

Union County is inland, and tropical weather still reaches it. Tropical Storm Debby in 2012 put Union on the federal disaster declaration list, and after Hurricane Idalia in 2023 the county qualified for SBA economic injury disaster loans. A 1998 flood event hit Union along with several other Florida counties.

Along the southern line, the Santa Fe River floods from time to time at Worthington Springs. Homes close to the Santa Fe or the New River deserve a careful look at the flood map before you commit.

Before you make an offer in Union County, pull up the address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center. When FEMA maps a Union County home in a high-risk zone, an FHA, VA or USDA lender will require a flood policy on it.
Get a homeowners quote during your inspection period, not after. Insurers charge more for older roofs, and a wind mitigation inspection can earn credits that bring the premium down.
Union County Emergency Management is at 58 NW 1st Street, Lake Butler, (386) 496-4300, with hurricane prep on its county page. Florida’s Know Your Zone lookup shows evacuation zones by address.

Jobs, schools and getting around

Government is the backbone of work in Union County, and the county itself lists agriculture, timber, trucking and the Florida Department of Corrections as the base of its economy.

The Reception and Medical Center complex sits just outside Lake Butler city limits, and Union Correctional Institution, which dates to 1913, is near Raiford.

Schools and colleges

Public schools are run by the Union County School District, headquartered at 55 S.W. 6th Street in Lake Butler (352-448-5051). The district lists Lake Butler Elementary, Lake Butler Middle, Union County High School and Union County Adult Ed.

Union is one of five counties in Florida Gateway College’s service district, along with Baker, Columbia, Dixie and Gilchrist. The main campus is in Lake City.

Getting around

State Road 238 meets the west end of the Palatka-Lake Butler State Trail in Lake Butler, and SR 121 runs into Worthington Springs, where a concrete bridge has crossed the Santa Fe since 1937.

Three railroads once crossed the county: the Georgia Southern and Florida, the Jacksonville and Southwestern, and a spur to the Bradford Farms Railroad. All three are abandoned now.

The rail trail, the river and Union County history

Palatka-Lake Butler State Trail

This state trail follows the old Norfolk-Southern rail line for nearly 47 miles, from west of U.S. 17 in Palatka through Putnam, Clay and Bradford counties to State Road 238 in Lake Butler. It’s built and paved in segments, and the open stretches are for bikes, walkers, runners, skaters and horses.

Santa Fe River at Worthington Springs

The Santa Fe forms the line with Alachua County at Worthington Springs, and the New River empties into it there. It’s the same stretch where the old spring resort drew Fourth of July excursion trains from Jacksonville.

Union County Public Library

Volunteers ran a makeshift library in 1986 before the county funded its own public library, which opened in 1990. Since 1996 it has been part of the New River Public Library Cooperative.

Downtown Lake Butler

Downtown Lake Butler holds the Union County Courthouse on W. Main St., the Townsend-Green Building & Museum and the Lake Butler Woman’s Club. Butler Lake is the lake the town takes its name from.

Moving to Union County: your first-month checklist

Electric: Union is one of the North Florida counties in Clay Electric Cooperative’s service area, and the cooperative was organized in 1937. Confirm the provider for your exact address.
Driver license and tag: the Union County Tax Collector, Room 108 of the courthouse at 55 W. Main St., handles both. Road tests are by appointment.
Homestead: bring Form DR-501 to Room 109 at 55 W. Main St. by March 1 following the year you close.
County government: unioncounty-fl.gov. The Board of County Commissioners office is at 15 NE 1st Street, Lake Butler, (386) 496-4241.
Building or adding on: start with the Building Department and Planning & Development.
Hurricane season: Union County Emergency Management, (386) 496-4300.

Buying or refinancing in Union County with AAA Capital Funding

Buying a home

FHA is the loan most of our Union County buyers pick: 3.5% down with a 580 or higher credit score, and it works with SHIP and the statewide programs. Eligible veterans can buy with a VA loan and no down payment. We also write Conventional loans, Hometown Heroes loans and FHA 100% financing.

AAA Capital Funding has been a licensed Florida mortgage broker since 1997, lending statewide in all 67 Florida counties, Union among them. We shop your loan across multiple wholesale lenders and tell you what you qualify for before you tour a house in Lake Butler, Raiford or Worthington Springs.

Refinancing the home you have

A refinance can lower your monthly payment, pull cash out for a roof or an addition, pay off higher-rate debt, or buy a co-owner off the title. The equity in a Union County home is money you can put to work.

Call 888-601-8344 and we’ll put your current payment, the new payment, the cash you’d receive and the closing costs on one page, so you can choose with every number in front of you.

Union County questions we hear a lot

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

The loan limit table on this page shows it, filled in from HUD’s published Union County figures. HUD and FHFA reset the FHA and Conventional limits every January, so check the table rather than an old number.

Is there down payment assistance in Union County?

Yes. The county’s SHIP plan offers purchase help tiered by income, as a deferred loan forgiven over time, with applications taken at the Suwannee River Economic Council office in Lake Butler. Hometown Heroes and FL Assist are open to Union buyers too. Confirm the money is available before you put down a deposit.

When do I file for homestead in Union County?

File Form DR-501 with the Union County Property Appraiser, Room 109 of the Lake Butler courthouse, by March 1 of the year after you buy. The home has to be yours and your residence on January 1.

What towns are in Union County?

Lake Butler is the county seat, and Raiford and Worthington Springs are the other two incorporated towns. Johnstown and Rylander are unincorporated communities under county government.

Do I need flood insurance in Union County?

A federally backed loan requires it when FEMA maps the home in a high-risk flood zone. The Santa Fe River floods from time to time along the southern line at Worthington Springs, so check the map and price a policy even where it’s optional.

Sources for this guide (29)

AAA Capital Funding, Inc. NMLS #374739. Jason J. Sarji, NMLS #374700. Licensed Florida mortgage broker serving Union 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 Union County, call 888-601-8344 or text 954-816-8820. One call, under ten minutes. No application needed to start.

Get Started Call 888-601-8344 Text 954-816-8820

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