What County Is Davie, FL In? (There’s No Davie County)
Is There a Davie County in Florida?
No. There is no Davie County in Florida. Davie is a town in Broward County, Florida, about 24 miles north of Miami. The Davie County you may have found in a search is in North Carolina, hundreds of miles away. When you buy a home in Davie, Broward County governs your property taxes and your assessed value, while the Town of Davie handles your local permits, zoning, and code. Knowing which government does what saves you real time and money.
If you typed “Davie County” into Google and landed on a courthouse in North Carolina, you are not the only one. It happens to relocation buyers every week. Two different places share the Davie name, and only one of them is a county.
Here is the clean version. Davie, Florida is a town. Its county is Broward. Davie County is a separate place in North Carolina, with its own county seat in Mocksville. They are not related, and nothing about the North Carolina county applies to your home here.
That distinction is not just trivia. The county your home sits in decides who values it for taxes, who you file your homestead with, and which school district it belongs to. The town your home sits in decides who issues your building permit and enforces zoning on your lot. In Davie those are two different governments, and buyers who assume it is all one office lose days chasing the wrong one.
Why Davie Is a Town, Not a County
Davie started as farmland. The first settlers in the early 1900s named the place Zona, after the Panama Canal Zone many of them came from. The community was renamed Davie in 1916 for Robert Parsell Davie, a developer tied to draining the Everglades. The town incorporated in 1925, dissolved once to avoid the taxes that came with incorporating, then incorporated again for good in 1961. You can read the town’s own history on the Town of Davie site.
Today Davie is a town of roughly 108,000 people across about 35 square miles in central Broward County. It is the most populous place in Florida that still calls itself a town rather than a city, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The name fits its ranch and horse country roots, which you still see in the acreage and equestrian pockets on the west side.
The North Carolina Davie County took its name from a different man, William Richardson Davie, a Revolutionary War figure. Same last name, different person, different state. That is the whole reason the two show up in the same search.
Which County Governs Your Davie Home
For anything tax related, the answer is Broward County. Three offices matter when you buy:
1. The Broward County Property Appraiser sets the assessed value of your home and processes your homestead exemption.
2. The Broward County Tax Collector sends the actual tax bill and takes your payment. The appraiser values, the collector bills. They are two separate offices.
3. Broward County Public Schools is the school district for every home in Davie. Florida runs schools at the county level, so your district is the county, not the town.
Two things trip up buyers here. First, do not assume you inherit the current owner’s tax amount. Under Florida Statute 193.155, a typical purchase resets the assessed value to full market value as of the next January 1, so your first tax bill can look very different from the seller’s. Transfers between spouses and some family transfers are exceptions. Run that number before you buy, not after. This is one of the details I walk through with every buyer looking at Davie property taxes.
Second, file your homestead exemption on time. You file it with the Broward County Property Appraiser, and it can reduce your taxable value by up to $50,000 once the home is your primary residence. Your actual dollar savings depend on the current millage rate, so confirm the number with the appraiser rather than guessing. The filing deadline falls in early March, with a late window later in the year. Here is how to file your homestead exemption in Davie.
Town of Davie or Broward County: Who Handles What
This is where the town and the county split, and where a wrong assumption can stall a closing.
The Town of Davie is an incorporated municipality with its own Building Division. Your permits, inspections, and zoning for a home inside town limits live in the Town system, not the county system. If you are checking a home for open or unpermitted work before you buy, the Town portal is where most of it lives. That open permit review is a step I never skip.
Broward County still runs records for unincorporated pockets and county level work. Some parcels near the Davie line are not inside town limits at all. Sunshine Acres is now a Davie neighborhood, while nearby Sunshine Ranches became part of Southwest Ranches years ago. On acreage in far western Davie, near communities like Long Lake Ranches (33330), the exact address decides whether you deal with the Town of Davie or unincorporated Broward. If you search only one system, you can miss the exact permit or lien that matters. Search both.
For the everyday question of who runs which service in your part of Davie, from trash to police to code, I put the whole split in one place in this guide on who runs Davie. If you want the practical permit and zoning lookup steps, start with the Davie permit and zoning lookup.
None of this is hard once you know the map. Broward County for taxes, valuation, homestead, and schools. Town of Davie for permits, zoning, and code, unless your parcel sits in unincorporated Broward. Get that straight before you write an offer and the rest of the process gets a lot easier. This is exactly the kind of groundwork that the guide to living in Davie is built to make simple.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Davie in Broward County or Miami-Dade?
Davie is in Broward County, Florida. It sits in the central part of the county, roughly 24 miles north of Miami and just southwest of Fort Lauderdale. Miami is in Miami-Dade County, which is the next county south, so your Davie home is a Broward property for taxes, schools, and county services.
Is there a Davie County in Florida?
No. Florida has no Davie County. Davie is a town, and its county is Broward. The Davie County that shows up in searches is in North Carolina and has nothing to do with your Florida home.
Who do I pay property taxes to in Davie?
Your property tax bill comes from the Broward County Tax Collector, and your assessed value and homestead exemption are handled by the Broward County Property Appraiser. The Town of Davie does not value your home or send your county tax bill. Remember that buying resets your assessed value to market value, so budget for a bill that differs from the seller’s.
What school district is Davie, FL in?
Davie is served by Broward County Public Schools, the county wide district. Florida assigns schools by county, so your district is Broward, not the town of Davie. School assignment is by address, so confirm the zoned schools for any home before you buy.
Do I get permits from the Town of Davie or Broward County?
For a home inside Davie town limits, permits, inspections, and zoning go through the Town of Davie Building Division. Parcels in unincorporated Broward near the Davie line go through the county instead. When you do due diligence on a purchase, check both systems so an open permit does not surprise you at closing.
Talk to a Davie Real Estate Expert
Sorting out taxes, permits, and jurisdiction is the easy part once someone shows you the map. The harder part is reading how all of it lands on a specific home before you commit. If you are buying or relocating to Davie, schedule a strategy call and we will run your numbers and your questions together. If you already have an agent, that is fine, this is a second opinion and not a pitch to leave anyone.
Anthony Spitaleri
Broker Associate, REALTOR® | Coldwell Banker Realty
Creator of Living in Davie, Florida
Davie, Florida | Serving Davie, Weston and surrounding Broward markets
954-235-5783
Florida License BK3281907
@livingindavieflorida
Written by Anthony Spitaleri, Broker Associate, REALTOR® with Coldwell Banker Realty and a Davie native. More about Anthony
