[2] Okaloosa County is included in the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area.

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 211,668 people, 79,235 households, and 51,719 families residing in the county.

Formed in October 1997, the Cooperative originally included the county and the cities of Crestview, Mary Esther, and Niceville.

The cities of Fort Walton Beach, Valparaiso, and Destin all joined the Cooperative by the year 2000.

[17] The Okaloosa County Public Library Cooperative is governed by an independent, inter-governmental agency with seven members.

[20] In November 2023 in Fort Walton Beach, Okaloosa County Sheriff's deputy Jesse Hernandez and sergeant Beth Roberts shot multiple times at Hernandez's police car, where a handcuffed and unarmed black suspect had been placed there by police, according to investigators.

In February 2024, it was announced that an internal investigation by the Okaloosa County Sheriff's office concluded that Hernandez began shooting after hearing the sound of an acorn bouncing off his police car, then Roberts began shooting after hearing Hernandez shooting and screaming, with Hernandez at one point shouting: "I'm hit!

"[24][25] Later in May 2024, a Florida woman sued the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office, claiming that on two occasions, once in August 2019 and once in May 2020, they forced her to leave her home while she remained naked during the execution of search warrants, exposing her to law enforcement officers and the public.

Incumbent George W. Bush won the county in 2004 with 78% of the popular vote and in 2008 the Republican candidate John McCain polled 72%.