Treasure Coast

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Map of the Treasure Coast in Florida. The red counties are (north to south) Indian River County, St. Lucie County, and Martin County. The pink county is the inland Okeechobee County, which is sometimes considered a part of the Treasure Coast.

The Treasure Coast is a term for a region in the U.S. state of Florida stretching from Hobe Sound in the south through Sebastian in the north, including the coastal counties of Indian River, St. Lucie, and Martin. The inland county of Okeechobee is sometimes considered a part of the Treasure Coast, although it is included in the Florida Heartland. Okeechobee is included with the three coastal counties in the Indian River Community College district and in the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit.^[1] The Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council based in Stuart, which has jurisdiction over the counties of Indian River, St. Lucie and Martin does not include Okeechobee but does include Palm Beach, which is usually considered part of Gold Coast, Florida.^[2]

The name "Treasure Coast" is derived from a number of ships of Spanish galleons (especially those of the 1715 Spanish treasure fleet) that wrecked off the coast during the 17th and 18th centuries. Artifacts from these ships have still been recovered today, both by amateur and professional treasure-hunters.

[edit] Metropolitan Areas

The Treasure Coast is sometimes considered a metropolitan area, though it is not nearly as large as the South Florida metropolitan area to the south. The United States Census Bureau separates the Treasure Coast into two metropolitan statistical areas.

	Metropolitan Statistical Areas	2005 Population
	Port St. Lucie Metropolitan Statistical Area	381,033
	Sebastian-Vero Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area	130,043

The Port St. Lucie Metropolitan Statistical Area includes St. Lucie and Martin counties. The Sebastian-Vero Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area includes only Indian River County. Okeechobee County is not included in either area.