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Population and Households
II. PALM BEACH COUNTY POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS
The following section provides an overview of the population characteristics of Palm Beach County and its largest municipalities. Emphasis is also given to select socioeconomic disparities among municipalities including educational attainment, occupations, income, and poverty. A more comprehensive accounting of these disparities is found in the “Municipal Profiles” section of the report (see Appendix B).
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Population and Households
According to 2018 American Community Survey (ACS) estimates, Palm Beach County’s population has increased by 9.3 percent (126,867 persons) since 2014. The County’s 2018 population of 1,485,941 is the third largest behind Miami-Dade and Broward Counties.
The largest municipality in Palm Beach County is West Palm Beach (108,365 persons) followed by Boca Raton (95,745 persons) and Boynton Beach (75,720 persons). The highest population growth rate since 2014 was in Palm Springs (15.8 percent) followed by Jupiter (10.4 percent), Palm Beach Gardens (8.7 percent) and Boca Raton (8.6 percent).
Table 2.1: Palm Beach County Population Change, 2014-2018
Municipality Boca Raton Boynton Beach Delray Beach Greenacres
Total Population 2014 2018 % Change 88,187 95,745 8.6% 70,355 75,720 7.6% 62,828 67,353 7.2% 38,444 40,224 4.6% Jupiter 57,625 63,617 10.4% Lake Worth Beach 35,903 37,728 5.1% Palm Beach Gardens 50,147 54,528 8.7% Palm Springs 21,302 24,675 15.8% Riviera Beach 33,123 34,352 3.7% Royal Palm Beach 35,482 38,344 8.1% Wellington 59,022 63,681 7.9% West Palm Beach 102,283 108,365 5.9% Palm Beach County 1,359,074 1,485,941 9.3%
Source: US Census, ACS, 2014 & 2018 5-Year Estimates
According to the Palm Beach County Planning, Zoning & Building Department, “Unincorporated Areas” comprise 82.9 percent of the County’s land area (1,640 square miles) and 43.4 percent of the County’s population (629,451 persons). Since 1990, the population of Unincorporated Areas have grown at a faster rate (61 percent) than the Palm Beach County (58 percent), as a whole. This trend as escalated in recent years with the population in Unincorporated Areas increasing by 11.8 percent (70,823 persons) since
2014 compared to 7.4 percent (56,044 persons) in the Incorporated Areas. This trend should continue over the next decade as only 62,540 acres of unincorporated land have been annexed since 1989.
Map 1.1: Palm Beach County Unincorporated Area Growth
