The St. Joe Company’s Residential Communities in Walton County, Florida Continue to Grow Alongside the Walton County School District’s Rise in Statewide School Rankings

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE) and its subsidiaries’ (“St. Joe”) residential communities in Walton County continue to grow alongside the local school district’s rise in statewide school rankings. Walton County School District recently announced its recognition as No. 1 in education across the State of Florida by the Florida Policy Institute’s 2025 Child Well-Being Index and No. 2 in high school graduation rate based on data released by the Florida Department of Education (“FDOE”).

“We are incredibly proud to have a strong residential portfolio in Walton County where the school district has achieved such an impressive rise in rankings over the past several years,” said Jorge Gonzalez, St. Joe President, Chief Executive Offer and Chairman of the Board. “The ability to provide potential homebuyers a statistically solid reason to consider moving to the area and building or buying in one of our communities is a significant advantage.”

According to the National Association of Realtors “Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers,” more than half of home buyers with children in the home under the age of 18 years said that the quality of school districts is an important factor when purchasing a home.

Since 2017, Walton County School District has seen significant progress within several educational rankings, including rising from No. 35 in the state to No. 3 regarding state academic testing according to the FDOE state testing results and increasing the graduation rate by more than 20 percent. St. Joe residential communities in Walton County have also experienced substantial growth over the past several years with active development of three large scale, multi-phase communities in its Walton County portfolio: Watersound Origins®, Watersound Origins West and Watersound Camp Creek®. As of December 31, 2024, these communities combined include more than 1,000 completed homes and more than 3,500 homesites in various stages of development, engineering, permitting or concept planning.

“Demand in our Walton County residential communities from homebuyers and homebuilders remains strong, which we attribute to the continued migration to our region from all over the country due to the high quality of life here, including K-12 education,” said St. Joe Senior Vice President of Residential Real Estate, Bridget Precise.

The St. Joe Company has as long history of partnering with the Walton County School District. In 2019, the two introduced the Magnet Innovation Center, a STEAM high school facility at St. Joe’s former corporate office location. This partnership was recognized by the FDOE with the Commissioner’s Business Recognition Award for “commitment to student success and academic achievement.”

St. Joe has residential communities across five counties in Northwest Florida—Walton, Bay, Gulf, Franklin and Leon—with approximately 21,500 homesites in various stages of development, engineering, permitting or concept planning. To learn more about St. Joe’s residential assets, click here for a comprehensive video tour or visit joe.com/real-estate.

About The St. Joe Company

The St. Joe Company (“Company”) is a diversified real estate development, asset management and operating company with real estate assets and operations in Northwest Florida. The Company intends to use existing assets for residential, hospitality and commercial ventures and has significant residential and commercial land-use entitlements. The Company actively seeks higher and better uses for its real estate assets through a range of development activities. More information about St. Joe can be found on its website at www.joe.com.

©2025 The St Joe Company. “St. Joe^®,” “JOE^®,” the “Taking Flight Design^®,” “St. Joe (and Taking Flight Design)^®,” “Watersound Camp Creek^®,” and “Watersound Origins^®,” are registered service marks of The St. Joe Company.