[5] Okeechobee County comprises the Okeechobee, FL Micropolitan Statistical Area (μSA), which is included in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Port St. Lucie, FL Combined Statistical Area.

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 39,644 people, 14,601 households, and 9,837 families residing in the county.

The seven-branch library system has one branch in the city of Okeechobee and is also affiliated with Indian River State College through its Dixon Hendry campus.

Prior to the Civil Rights Act, Okeechobee County followed the Solid South pattern of voting Democratic, making an exception in 1928 amidst Southern skepticism to Democrat Al Smith's Northern Catholicism.

The only non-Republicans to carry Okeechobee County at the presidential level after John F. Kennedy in 1960 were Independent segregationist George Wallace of Alabama (which borders Florida) in 1968 as well as Southern Democrats Jimmy Carter of Georgia (another neighboring state of Florida; 1976 and 1980) and Bill Clinton of Arkansas (1992 and 1996).

According to the Secretary of State's office, Republicans are a majority of registered voters in Okeechobee County.