We show that there exists a universal constant K c so that every K-strongly quasiconformally homogeneous hyperbolic surface X (not equal to H 2 ) has the property that K > K c > 1. The constant K c is the best possible, and is computed in terms of the diameter of the (2, 3, 7)-hyperbolic orbifold (which is the hyperbolic orbifold of smallest area.) We further show that the minimum strong homogeneity constant of a hyperbolic surface without conformal automorphisms decreases if one passes to a non-amenable regular cover.