Quick answer: The Treasure Coast usually means three Florida counties, Indian River, St. Lucie and Martin, though the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council district in Florida law (s. 186.512(1)(i), Florida Statutes) also includes Palm Beach County. Wikipedia, a secondary source, says the name refers to the Spanish treasure fleet lost in a 1715 hurricane; Florida State Parks, which tells the fleet's story but does not discuss the name, says the fleet carried more than 3.5 million pesos in treasure. The three counties have 13 incorporated municipalities, from Port St. Lucie, with 260,194 people in the April 1, 2025 estimates published by the Florida Legislature's Office of Economic and Demographic Research, to Orchid, with 551. By those estimates the three counties had 733,368 residents, and 45.9 percent of them lived outside any municipality, in places such as Palm City, Jensen Beach and Hobe Sound. Of the three airports covered here, Vero Beach Regional is the one whose website listed airline service as of October 24, 2026.
The Treasure Coast is the name in common use for three Florida counties: Indian River, St. Lucie and Martin. In Florida law, the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council's district covers four counties, adding Palm Beach County. Here is what the term covers under each, what the sources say about where the name comes from, every incorporated city and town in the three counties with its population, the larger unincorporated communities whose names sound like towns but are not, and the airports.
Which counties are in the Treasure Coast?
In common use, three. Wikipedia's Treasure Coast article (viewed October 24, 2026) says the region "comprises Indian River, Martin, and St. Lucie counties" and places the Gold Coast "to the south (from Palm Beach County to Miami)." Local agencies use the name too: St. Lucie County's airport is Treasure Coast International Airport.
A Florida statute uses the name for a larger planning district. Section 186.512(1), Florida Statutes (2026), divides the state into ten regional planning council districts, and paragraph (i) reads: "Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council: Indian River, Martin, Palm Beach, and St. Lucie Counties." That is the only place in Florida law I found that ties the name to specific counties, and it takes in all of Palm Beach County. So if you are asking whether a Palm Beach County town is on the Treasure Coast, the answer depends on who is defining it: in the three-county usage it is not, but it is inside the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council's district. The scale changes a lot too. In the same April 1, 2025 estimates used below, Palm Beach County alone had 1,556,161 residents, about 2.1 times the three counties combined. The rest of this post uses the three-county meaning.
| County | 2020 Census | Estimate, April 1, 2025 | Change | Municipalities | County seat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indian River | 159,788 | 173,013 | +13,225 (8.3%) | 5 | Vero Beach (per Wikipedia) |
| St. Lucie | 329,226 | 394,074 | +64,848 (19.7%) | 3 | Fort Pierce |
| Martin | 158,431 | 166,281 | +7,850 (5.0%) | 5 | Stuart (per Wikipedia) |
| Three counties | 647,445 | 733,368 | +85,923 (13.3%) | 13 |
The population figures are from the Florida Legislature's Office of Economic and Demographic Research (EDR), "Florida Population Estimates by County and Municipality, April 1, 2025," dated October 15, 2025, which presents BEBR estimates and prints the April 1, 2020 Census count beside them. The totals and the change column are my arithmetic from that one table. The Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County names "the City of Fort Pierce, the county seat"; the Martin and Indian River county seats come from Wikipedia's list of Florida counties.
Why is it called the Treasure Coast?
Wikipedia's Treasure Coast article, a secondary source, says the name "refers to the Spanish Treasure Fleet that was lost in a 1715 hurricane." Florida State Parks tells the fleet's story but does not discuss the name. It says the fleet, under Capitan-General Don Juan Esteban de Ubilla with the Capitana as its flagship, was "En route from Havana to Spain" carrying "more than 3.5 million pesos in treasure" when it "fell victim to a hurricane and wrecked in shallow waters off the island," as the Sebastian Inlet State Park page puts it. Survivors and salvagers set up a "hardscrabble camp near the inlet," and the park says "The location of the camp is now the site of the McLarty Treasure Museum," which the park says highlights the 1715 fleet. The park's history page, viewed October 24, 2026, says "The McLarty Museum will be open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m."
The wrecks are not all at Sebastian. A history page on Museums in the Sea, which does not name its publisher, says the 1715 convoys left Havana in the summer and within days "these 11 vessels were struck by a fierce hurricane." One of them, the Urca de Lima, "grounded near present-day Ft. Pierce during the storm," carrying general cargo and private silver. The same page says the City of Fort Pierce paid for a search in 1928 that raised 16 cannons and 4 anchors, that the first salvage permit was issued in 1932, that Florida's Underwater Archaeological Preserve system began in 1987 with the Urca de Lima as its first preserve, and that the site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
The name itself is much newer than the wrecks. Wikipedia says "The term was coined by John J. Schumann Jr. and Harry J. Schultz of the Vero Beach Press Journal newspaper," shortly after salvagers began recovering treasure off the coast in 1961, and that the name "evidently emerged from residents' desire to distinguish themselves from the Gold Coast." Wikipedia cites a March 27, 2011 TCPalm article for this. I have not read it, so treat the who and the when as secondhand.
What cities and towns are on the Treasure Coast?
Thirteen municipalities, meaning places with their own incorporated local government: three in St. Lucie County, five in Indian River County and five in Martin County. The EDR table is the one source I found that covers all 13 on the same date, so every row below comes from it.
| Municipality | County | 2020 Census | Estimate, April 1, 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port St. Lucie | St. Lucie | 204,851 | 260,194 | +55,343 (27.0%) |
| Fort Pierce | St. Lucie | 47,297 | 51,352 | +4,055 (8.6%) |
| St. Lucie Village | St. Lucie | 613 | 623 | +10 (1.6%) |
| Sebastian | Indian River | 25,054 | 27,367 | +2,313 (9.2%) |
| Vero Beach | Indian River | 16,354 | 16,800 | +446 (2.7%) |
| Fellsmere | Indian River | 4,834 | 4,987 | +153 (3.2%) |
| Indian River Shores | Indian River | 4,241 | 4,511 | +270 (6.4%) |
| Orchid | Indian River | 516 | 551 | +35 (6.8%) |
| Stuart | Martin | 17,425 | 20,573 | +3,148 (18.1%) |
| Indiantown | Martin | 6,560 | 6,704 | +144 (2.2%) |
| Sewall's Point | Martin | 1,991 | 2,067 | +76 (3.8%) |
| Jupiter Island | Martin | 804 | 780 | Down 24 (3.0%) |
| Ocean Breeze | Martin | 301 | 608 | +307 (102.0%) |
A few things stand out. Port St. Lucie, with 260,194 people in the April 1, 2025 estimate, has nearly twice the other 12 municipalities combined (136,923) and about 35.5 percent of the three counties' combined estimate, by my arithmetic. Ocean Breeze roughly doubled from a small base, from 301 to 608. Jupiter Island, despite its name, is a Martin County municipality, and it is the only one of the 13 whose estimate went down.
I have not confirmed from a primary source whether each of the smaller places is legally a city, a town or a village, so the table calls them all municipalities. Other population estimates, including the Census Bureau's, use a different date and do not match these exactly, so compare like with like; my Treasure Coast and Space Coast commercial market overview shows the EDR and Census estimates side by side.
Are Palm City, Jensen Beach and Hobe Sound cities?
No. By EDR's April 1, 2025 estimates, 336,251 of the three counties' 733,368 residents, or 45.9 percent, lived outside any municipality: 118,797 in Indian River County, 135,549 in Martin County and 81,905 in St. Lucie County. In Martin County that is about 81.5 percent of the county's residents, by my arithmetic. Many familiar names sit in that unincorporated share. They are Census designated places (CDPs): communities the Census Bureau counts on their own, but that are not municipalities.
| Community (CDP) | County (per Wikipedia) | 2020 Census | Land area, square miles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vero Beach South | Indian River | 28,020 | 11.79 |
| Palm City | Martin | 25,883 | 13.86 |
| Florida Ridge | Indian River | 21,302 | 10.77 |
| Hobe Sound | Martin | 13,163 | 7.11 |
| Jensen Beach | Martin | 12,652 | 6.97 |
| Lakewood Park | St. Lucie | 12,510 | 6.65 |
In the 2020 Census, three of these counted more people than the cities of Vero Beach (16,354) and Stuart (17,425): Vero Beach South (28,020), Palm City (25,883) and Florida Ridge (21,302). Vero Beach South and Palm City also counted more than Sebastian (25,054). The Census Bureau's QuickFacts pages publish no newer estimate for these places, so the 2020 counts are the latest figures I can give. Those pages also do not name the county, so the county column comes from Wikipedia's county articles.
Hutchinson Island, the barrier island named in both the Martin and St. Lucie County Wikipedia articles, is not a municipality either, and I did not find a Census figure for it that I could use.
Which Treasure Coast airports have airline service?
Of the three airports covered here, only Vero Beach Regional Airport lists airlines. Its airline information page, viewed October 24, 2026, shows:
| Airline | Destinations the airport lists |
|---|---|
| Breeze Airways | White Plains, Islip, Providence, Hartford, New Haven, Washington Dulles and Raleigh-Durham; Pittsburgh and Baltimore beginning October 1, 2026; Atlantic City beginning October 2, 2026; Trenton beginning October 2026 |
| JetBlue | Boston |
| American Airlines | Charlotte, daily; Philadelphia, seasonal Saturday service beginning November 7, 2026 and scheduled through April 3, 2027 |
Treasure Coast International Airport in Fort Pierce is described by the Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County as a general aviation airport, meaning flying other than scheduled airline service. The council's undated airport page says it spans 3,844 acres, with "more than 1,000 acres of land available for lease and development," Foreign Trade Zone #218, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection office and "nearly six dozen tenants," and that it is 8 miles from I-95 and the Turnpike. The pages I read do not mention scheduled airline service either way.
Witham Field, the Martin County Airport in Stuart, operates as a general aviation airport, according to the county's airport FAQ, viewed October 24, 2026, which also says there are no plans for Witham Field to become a commercial service airport.
For more airline choice, the St. Lucie County council says "Palm Beach International Airport offers major domestic connections within a 50 minute drive," and it places St. Lucie County "120 miles south of Orlando and 60 miles north of West Palm Beach." I found no primary source for drive times or distances between Treasure Coast towns, so this post gives none.
What I could not confirm
The Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council's own website would not load, so I have not read how the council describes its region. The link between the name and the 1715 fleet, and who coined the name and when, come from Wikipedia, not from a primary source or the TCPalm article it cites. The exact date of the 1715 hurricane, and where along the coast each ship wrecked, were not on the pages I read. The county seats of Martin and Indian River counties, and the county for each unincorporated community, are from Wikipedia. Population estimates are revised, so check the next EDR release before relying on a single number.
If you are working out where on the Treasure Coast to live, my guide to moving to the Treasure Coast and my comparison of Port St. Lucie and Stuart are good next reads.
Questions people ask about the Treasure Coast
What counties are in the Treasure Coast?
In common use, Indian River, St. Lucie and Martin. The Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council district in Florida law, s. 186.512(1)(i), covers those three plus Palm Beach County.
Why is it called the Treasure Coast?
Wikipedia says the name refers to the Spanish treasure fleet lost in a 1715 hurricane. Florida State Parks, which tells the fleet's story but does not discuss the name, says the fleet carried more than 3.5 million pesos in treasure, and the survivors' camp near Sebastian Inlet is now the site of the McLarty Treasure Museum.
What cities and towns are on the Treasure Coast?
Thirteen municipalities: Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce and St. Lucie Village in St. Lucie County; Sebastian, Vero Beach, Fellsmere, Indian River Shores and Orchid in Indian River County; and Stuart, Indiantown, Sewall's Point, Jupiter Island and Ocean Breeze in Martin County.
Are Palm City, Jensen Beach and Hobe Sound cities?
No. They are unincorporated Census designated places, not municipalities. Their 2020 Census counts were 25,883 for Palm City, 12,652 for Jensen Beach and 13,163 for Hobe Sound.
How many people live on the Treasure Coast?
About 733,368 in the three counties on April 1, 2025, by my sum of the estimates published by the Florida Legislature's Office of Economic and Demographic Research, up from 647,445 in the 2020 Census. Port St. Lucie alone had 260,194.
Does the Treasure Coast have an airport with airline service?
Vero Beach Regional Airport lists Breeze Airways, JetBlue and American Airlines as of October 24, 2026. Treasure Coast International in Fort Pierce and Witham Field in Stuart are general aviation airports, and Martin County says there are no plans for commercial service at Witham Field.
Talk with William. Weighing two or three Treasure Coast towns? Call or text me the towns and your price range, and I will pull the recent closed sales in each and tell you which county, and which city or town if any, each address you are looking at falls under, so you know which property appraiser and local government to check with. Call or text (772) 800-2274 or send a message.
General information, not legal, tax, lending or insurance advice, and not a guarantee of any price, fee, date or outcome. Population figures are estimates that get revised, the link between the name and the 1715 fleet, who coined the name, and the Martin and Indian River county seats come from Wikipedia, and airline routes and museum hours change; confirm a property's city or county with the county property appraiser, and flights with the airport or airline. References are as reviewed on October 24, 2026. William Merchant, REALTOR®, RE/MAX Gold. Each RE/MAX office is independently owned and operated. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Sources
- Florida Statutes 186.512, Designation of regional planning councils, (1)(i) Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council (2026)
- Florida Legislature, Office of Economic and Demographic Research: Florida Population Estimates by County and Municipality, April 1, 2025, BEBR estimates with April 1, 2020 Census counts (October 15, 2025)
- Florida State Parks: Sebastian Inlet State Park, McLarty Treasure Museum and the 1715 fleet (viewed October 24, 2026)
- Florida State Parks: History and Culture, Sebastian Inlet (undated)
- Florida State Parks: Sebastian Inlet State Park history, McLarty Museum hours (viewed October 24, 2026)
- U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Vero Beach South CDP, Florida (2020 Census)
- U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Palm City CDP, Florida (2020 Census)
- U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Florida Ridge CDP, Florida (2020 Census)
- U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Hobe Sound CDP, Florida (2020 Census)
- U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Jensen Beach CDP, Florida (2020 Census)
- U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Lakewood Park CDP, Florida (2020 Census)
- Vero Beach Regional Airport: Airline Information (undated; viewed October 24, 2026)
- Martin County: Martin County Airport/Witham Field FAQs (undated; viewed October 24, 2026)
- Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County: Overview, county seat, airport and distances (undated)
- Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County: Treasure Coast International Airport (undated)
- Museums in the Sea: Urca de Lima history (undated; publisher not shown)
- Wikipedia: Treasure Coast, counties, name origin and coinage (secondary; viewed October 24, 2026)
- Wikipedia: List of counties in Florida, county seats (secondary)
