Levy County is not dominated by a single land-cover type. Forest leads the 2025 summary at 30.45%, wetlands are almost equal at 30.13%, and agriculture accounts for another 22.31%. Developed land is much smaller at 8.65%. The map set therefore reads as a mix of wooded interior areas, broad wetlands toward the Gulf side and south, and substantial farm blocks in the north and east.
Four map views are included on this page: 2025 land cover, forest and farmland, impervious surface, and a 1985–2025 class comparison. The WebP versions are intended for quick browser viewing, while the original 2480×1754 JPG files are packaged together in the download ZIP. They are useful when a report or lesson needs to compare natural cover, agriculture, built surfaces, and mapped class differences across the same county.
Table of Contents
The countywide pattern is a three-way mix of forest, wetlands, and agriculture
Dark green forest is distributed through the center, southeast, and portions of the west, making it the largest individual class at 30.45%. Teal wetlands cover almost the same share and become especially prominent across the western and southern parts of the county. Because the two totals differ by less than one percentage point, neither class alone describes Levy County’s landscape.
Agriculture accounts for 22.31% and is most obvious across the north, northeast, and eastern side. Large yellow blocks sit beside smaller forest and wetland patches, while the central part of the county shows a more mixed arrangement. The eastern agricultural concentration is visually strong even though farming ranks third in the county summary.
Developed land covers 8.65%, grassland 3.53%, shrubland 2.46%, and water 2.14%. Red developed patches are concentrated around several settlement areas and roads rather than forming one continuous urban zone. Water occupies a modest countywide share, but blue areas remain visible near the western and southern wetland landscape.
Levy County’s conservation planning document identifies salt marshes, shorelines, barrier and offshore islands, freshwater and coastal wetlands, and river corridors including the Suwannee, Waccasassa, and Withlacoochee as environmentally sensitive resources. That official context helps explain why wetland and water classes matter so much on the western and southern side. The land-cover wetland class is still a satellite classification and should not be treated as a legal wetland boundary.
Farm blocks become much easier to compare when developed and other cover is simplified
The forest-and-farmland view strips away some visual competition from developed and other cover. Large agricultural blocks stand out across the north and east, while the central and southeastern parts contain broad forest. Wetlands remain extensive in the west and south, creating a clear contrast with the farm-rich eastern half.
UF/IFAS Extension Levy County provides education in agriculture, livestock, horticulture, and natural resources. That local program gives useful context to the substantial agricultural share shown on the map. The yellow class should not be read as a crop inventory, property-ownership layer, or agricultural zoning map; it represents surface cover classified as agriculture in the source dataset.
Forest and wetlands together exceed 60% of the county. In the central and southern portions, those classes frequently touch or alternate over short distances. Northern farm areas still contain green and teal patches, so the boundary between working land and natural cover is not a simple east-west dividing line.
Grassland and shrubland are smaller categories, but they recur between farms, forest, and wetlands. Those narrow or scattered patches become easier to distinguish in the original JPG. For presentation use, retaining the legend and a little surrounding context is more informative than cropping tightly around a single color.
Only 0.24% of the county is mapped at 50% or greater imperviousness
Impervious surface means hard cover such as pavement, parking areas, and rooftops that does not readily absorb rainfall. Levy County’s mean impervious value is 1.67%, and only 0.24% of the county is mapped at 50% or greater imperviousness. Those figures are far below the 8.65% developed-land share because developed classes can include lawns, trees, bare ground, and other permeable surfaces.
The darkest colors occur in a handful of settlement clusters and at several road junctions. Thin lines also trace parts of the road network, but most of the county remains very pale. Western and southern wetland and forest areas contain little high-intensity impervious cover, while the north and east show more scattered built surfaces.
Some coastal settlement areas also appear as small hard-surface clusters. UF/IFAS Levy County materials include work on Cedar Key flooding vulnerability and coastal resilience, providing local context for why built surfaces and coastal conditions may be studied together. This impervious layer itself does not measure flood depth, storm-surge exposure, drainage capacity, or shoreline change.
A property or permitting question also requires different records. Impervious percentage describes the physical surface, not zoning, ownership, parcel boundaries, or legal development rights. Planning and conservation documents should be consulted separately when the question concerns land-use regulation rather than land cover.
The 1985–2025 comparison is dominated by forest loss and other class differences
The comparison reports class differences across 23.86% of Levy County. Forest loss accounts for 8.45%, transition to developed for 2.44%, agricultural loss for 2.02%, and other class difference for 10.57%. Change colors are especially common across the north and east but are also scattered through the central and southeastern parts of the county.
Orange forest-loss patches occur in many locations rather than forming one single zone. Red developed transitions are smaller and generally appear near current settlement and road areas. Purple other-class differences form several larger blocks in the east, which is a reminder that the comparison cannot be summarized as development alone.
A note on the map states that the differences may include classification variation. The 23.86% figure should therefore not be treated as an exact physical land-change rate. Different imagery, observation conditions, raster cells containing mixed surfaces, and classification methods can cause a place to receive a different class even when the real-world change is more complicated.
Only the 1985 and 2025 endpoints are shown. The map does not reveal what happened during the forty years between them or whether a location changed more than once. Aerial photographs and additional Annual NLCD years are more appropriate for confirming a specific transition or building a detailed timeline.
The most useful reading is to compare the Gulf-side wetland landscape with the eastern farm pattern
Levy County’s conservation plan places special attention on coastal wetlands, shorelines, islands, springs, and river corridors. When that background is viewed alongside the land-cover map, the broad wetland area toward the west and south becomes easier to understand as part of a larger coastal and riverine setting. The east and north, by contrast, contain much more agriculture.
For a classroom exercise, start by locating forest and wetlands, which each cover about 30% of the county. The forest-and-farmland map can then be used to find the 22.31% agricultural share. After that, the impervious map shows how limited the hard-surface footprint is, and the change map identifies places where the 1985 and 2025 classifications differ.
Land cover answers a physical question about what is present at the surface. It does not answer who owns the land, how a parcel is zoned, whether construction is allowed, or where a surveyed property line lies. Keeping those distinctions clear is especially important in a county where conservation areas, farms, settlements, and coastal resources occur close to one another.
The download package contains four original JPGs: 2025 land cover, forest and farmland, impervious/developed land, and the 1985–2025 class comparison. Each file is 2480×1754 pixels. The original JPGs are more useful than the reduced WebP previews for reading legends, examining small patches, and inserting maps into documents or presentations.
Annual NLCD products are raster maps, so the landscape is represented as grid cells and each cell receives a representative class or value. Real ground conditions may include trees, pavement, grass, structures, and water within a small area. Color boundaries are therefore generalized land-cover edges rather than surveyed parcel lines.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the largest 2025 land-cover category in Levy County?
Forest is the largest category at 30.45%, but wetlands are nearly equal at 30.13%. Agriculture is also substantial at 22.31%. The map is therefore better understood as a mixed forest-wetland-agricultural landscape than as a county dominated by one class.
Why is developed land 8.65% while mean impervious cover is only 1.67%?
The two measures describe different things. Developed land can contain buildings and roads along with lawns, trees, soil, and other permeable surfaces. Impervious cover measures hard surfaces such as pavement and rooftops more directly, so its countywide average can be much lower.
Does the 23.86% 1985–2025 class difference equal the true land-change rate?
No. The map specifically notes that classification variation may be included. Important locations should be checked with aerial imagery, additional land-cover years, or other official records before a class difference is treated as a confirmed physical change.
Map File Information
Download the four original Levy County land-cover JPG maps together in one ZIP file.
- Included Files: Use only the versions confirmed in the article and supplied images
- File Type: Use the confirmed download contents
- Intended Use: Printing, education, presentations, and map-based projects
Related Maps
- Alachua County Florida Land Cover Map
- Baker County Florida Land Cover Map
- Bay County Florida Land Cover Map
Sources and References
- MRLC Annual NLCD Data – Official source for Annual NLCD land-cover data.
- USGS Annual NLCD Land Cover Classification – Describes the principal Annual NLCD land-cover classes.
- U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line Shapefiles – Official geographic boundary data for county reference.
- Levy County Conservation Element – County planning material covering coastal wetlands, rivers, sensitive lands, and natural resources.
- UF/IFAS Extension Levy County – Local agriculture, livestock, horticulture, and natural-resource education.
Green Map creates custom-edited map images using open geographic data sources such as geoBoundaries, Natural Earth, OpenStreetMap, and government open data.
These maps are edited visual materials, not raw data files, and are provided for education, documents, presentations, and graphic reference.
