In 2004, Palm Beach County was Florida's wealthiest county, with aper capita personal income of $44,518.[6] It leads the state in agricultural productivity; agriculture is Palm Beach County's second-largest industry, after real estate development.[7] In undeveloped (central and western) Palm Beach County there is significant tropical agricultural production, especiallynurseries, truck crops (vegetables), andsugar cane.[8] Palm Beach County has been called the "Winter Vegetable Capital" of the nation.[9]
Around 12,000 years ago, Native Americans began migrating into Florida. An estimated 20,000 Native Americans lived in South Florida when the Spanish arrived. Their population diminished significantly by the 18th century, due to warfare, enslavement, and diseases from Europe.[10] In 1513,Juan Ponce de León became the first European in modern-day Palm Beach County when he landed at theJupiter Inlet.[11] Among the first non-Native American residents wereAfrican Americans, many of whom were former slaves or immediate descendants of former slaves, arriving in what was thenSpanish Florida in the late 17th century. Finding refuge among theSeminoles, the former slaves or descendants of former slaves fought alongside them againstwhite settlers and bounty hunters during theSeminole Wars.[12][13] Portions of theSecond Seminole War occurred in Palm Beach County, including theBattles of the Loxahatchee in 1838.[14]
The county's oldest surviving structure, theJupiter Lighthouse, was built in 1860, after receiving authorization to the land from PresidentFranklin Pierce in 1854.[15] During theAmerican Civil War, Florida was a member of theConfederate States of America. Two Confederate adherents removed the lighting mechanism from the lighthouse.[16] One of the men who removed the light, Augustus O. Lang, was also the first white settler in Palm Beach County. He built a palmetto shack along the eastern shore ofLake Worth in 1863 after abandoning the cause of the Confederacy.[17] After the Civil War ended, the Jupiter Lighthouse was relit in 1866.[16]
In October 1873, ahurricane caused a shipwreck betweenBiscayne Bay and theNew River. The crew survived the wreck but nearly died due to starvation because of the desolation of the area. In response, fiveHouses of Refuge were built along the east coast of Florida from theFort Pierce Inlet southward to Biscayne Bay. Orange Grove House of Refuge No. 3 was built nearDelray Beach in 1876.[18]
Very few people lived in modern-day Palm Beach County prior to the arrival ofHenry Flagler, who first visited in the early 1890s. AStandard Oil tycoon, Flagler was instrumental in the county's development around the turn of the century. First, he purchased land on both sides ofLake Worth. Other investors followed suit, causing a small boom and bringing in existing businesses and resulting in the establishment of many new businesses. TheRoyal Poinciana Hotel, constructed by Flagler and his constructed crews to accommodate wealthy tourists, opened for business in February 1894. About a month later, theFlorida East Coast Railway, owned by Flagler, reached West Palm Beach. On November 5, 1894, Palm Beach County's oldest city, West Palm Beach, was incorporated. In 1896, another hotel built by Flagler was opened, the Palm Beach Inn, later renamedThe Breakers.[19] He also constructedhis own winter home, which he and his wife moved into in 1902.[20] The arrivals of MajorNathan Boynton, CongressmanWilliam S. Linton, and railroad surveyor Thomas Rickards in the 1890s also proved important because they developed communities that later becameBoynton Beach, Delray Beach, andBoca Raton, respectively.[21]
TheFlorida Legislature voted to establish Palm Beach County in 1909, carving it out of what was then the northern portion ofDade County and initially including all ofLake Okeechobee. The southernmost part of Palm Beach County was separated to create the northern portion ofBroward County in 1915, the northwestern portion became part ofOkeechobee County in 1917, and southernMartin County was created from northernmost Palm Beach County in 1925.[22] The boundaries remained the same until 1963, when the Florida Legislature reduced Palm Beach County's share of Lake Okeechobee from about 80 percent to less than 40 percent and divided the lake more equitably amongGlades,Hendry, Martin, and Okeechobee counties.[23] A final change to the county's boundaries occurred in 2009, when a small portion of land was given to Broward County.[24]
The 1910s and much of the 1920s brought prosperity and rapid population growth to South Florida, coinciding with theFlorida land boom of the 1920s. Many local historic districts and landmarkslisted in theNational Register of Historic Places in Palm Beach County were designed and constructed during the 1920s, with the main contributors being architectsMaurice Fatio,Addison Mizner,Marion Sims Wyeth, and the firmHarvey and Clarke, which includedGustav Maass.[25] Total property value in West Palm Beach skyrocketed from $13.6 million in 1920 to $61 million in 1925, before briefly reaching a pre-Great Depression peak of $89 million in 1929. The city's population quadrupled between 1920 and 1927.[26]
Early on September 17, 1928,the Okeechobee hurricane made landfall near West Palm Beach as a category-4 storm and crossed Lake Okeechobee shortly thereafter.[27] While the hurricane caused catastrophic impact in eastern portions of the county, the Lake Okeechobee region suffered a much heavier loss of life. Wind-driven storm surge in the lake inundated hundreds of square miles, including the nearby communities ofBelle Glade,Pahokee, andSouth Bay. At least 2,500 deaths occurred, many of whom were black migrant farmers.[28] An assessment of impact throughout the county reported 552 businesses destroyed, 1,447 businesses damaged, 3,584 homes destroyed, and 11,409 homes damaged, leaving 4,008 families homeless. However, several cities were excluded, such as Boca Raton,Greenacres,Lantana, andSouth Palm Beach.[29]: 3 Damage in South Florida totaled roughly $25 million. In response to the storm, theHerbert Hoover Dike was constructed to prevent a similar disaster.[28]
As a result of1926 Miami hurricane and the 1928 storm, Palm Beach County, along with the rest of South Florida, began suffering economic turmoil and pushed the region into the Great Depression, even before theWall Street Crash of 1929. Housing prices dropped dramatically in the county, with the total real estate value in West Palm Beach falling to $41.6 million in 1930 and then to $18.2 million in 1935.[30] However, the decade also brought an airport to the county. Morrison Field, later renamed thePalm Beach International Airport, opened in 1936.
After the U.S. enteredWorld War II, it was converted to anAir Force Base in 1942.[31] During the war, thousands of servicemen arrived in Palm Beach County for training and supporting the war effort.[32] Following the conclusion of World War II, a number of veterans returned to the area for work, vacation, or retirement.[32] The base was closed and became a commercial airport again in 1962.[31] Migration to the county by workers, tourists, and retirees continued into the 21st century.[33]
On August 28, 1949, a category-4hurricane struck Lake Worth Beach withmaximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 km/h),[27] causing considerable damage. Throughout Palm Beach County, the hurricane destroyed 65 homes and damaged 13,283 others.[34]
The area's first television station,WIRK-TV Channel 21, began broadcasting on September 13, 1953. It went off the air less than three years later. However,NBC affiliateWPTV-TV andCBS affiliateWPEC first aired in 1954 and 1955, respectively – both of which are still in existence today.[35]
Richard Paul Pavlick nearly attempted to assassinate then President-electJohn F. Kennedy while the family vacationed in Palm Beach in December 1960. On December 11, Pavlick forwent his attempt because Kennedy was with his wife,Jacqueline, and their two children.[36] Four days later, Pavlick's car, which had sticks of dynamite inside, was surrounded by police and he was arrested.[37] Charges against Pavolick were dropped on December 2, 1963, 10 days afterKennedy was assassinated inDallas, Texas.[36] Additionally, a secretblast shelter was built onPeanut Island during his presidency because escalatingCold War tensions.[38]
Hurricane David struck near West Palm Beach late on September 3, 1979, with sustained winds of 100 mph (155 km/h). The storm's winds shattered windows in stores near the coast and caused property damage. A few roofs were torn off, and numerous buildings were flooded from over 6 in (150 mm) of rainfall. Damage in the county reached $30 million, most of which was incurred to agriculture.
The "butterfly ballot" used during the 2000 election in Palm Beach County
Following theSeptember 11 attacks in 2001, aFederal Bureau of Investigation investigation revealed that 12 of the 19 hijackers trained or resided in Palm Beach County during the months prior to the attacks.[39][40] Later that month, during theanthrax attacks, a letter containingspores of this substance was mailed to theAmerican Media, Inc. building in Boca Raton. Three people were exposed to the anthrax, includingRobert Stevens, a photo editor who later died after an infection induced by exposure.[39]
Three hurricanes severely impacted Palm Beach County in 2004 and 2005:Frances,Jeanne, andWilma. On September 5, 2004, Frances made landfall in Martin County as a category-2 hurricane. With wind gusts in Palm Beach County peaking at 91 mph (146 km/h), the storm inflicted structural damage on about 15,000 houses and 2,400 businesses. Six deaths occurred in the county. Jeanne struck near the same location as a category-3 hurricane on September 26, 2004. The storm also brought strong winds, with an official wind gust of 94 mph (151 km/h). About 4,160 homes were damaged and 60 were destroyed. Jeanne left about $260 million in damage in the county. On October 24, 2005, Hurricane Wilma struckCollier County as a category-3 hurricane. The storm moved northeastward, directly crossing Palm Beach County. Several locations reported hurricane-force winds, including a wind gust of 117 mph (188 km/h) in Belle Glade.[41][42] Over 90% ofFlorida Power & Light customers lost electricity. Two deaths occurred in Palm Beach County.[43] The storm inflicted some degree of impact to more than 55,000 homes and 3,600 businesses. Palm Beach County suffered about $2.9 billion in damages.[44][45][46][47]
In August 2012, the outer bands ofHurricane Isaac dropped at least 15.86 in (403 mm) of rain nearLion Country Safari. The consequent flooding left neighborhoods inThe Acreage,Loxahatchee,Loxahatchee Groves,Royal Palm Beach, and Wellington stranded for up to several days.[48] AsHurricane Irma approached in September 2017, mandatory or voluntary evacuations were ordered for more than 290,000 residents of Palm Beach County.[49] Although the storm passed well west of the county, much of the area experienced hurricane-force wind gusts, with a peak gust of 91 mph (146 km/h) in West Palm Beach.[50] Impact was generally limited to widespread power outages and damaged trees and vegetation, though isolated property damage was reported. The storm left about $300 million in damage in the county,[50] as well as five fatalities.[51]
The shipProvidencia, wrecked off the coast of Florida, in 1878
Thecoconut palm,Cocos nucifera, is not native to Florida (nor anywhere else in the United States). Its presence in what is today Palm Beach County is due to the shipwreck of the Spanish shipProvidencia in 1878, near today'sMar-a-Lago. It was traveling fromHavana toCádiz, Spain, with a cargo of coconuts.[52] The shipwreck was within walking distance of the shore—the Florida State Archives conserves a picture of a painting[53]—and a deliberate grounding so as to obtain an insurance payout has been proposed.[54] The coconuts were salvaged, too many to be eaten, and thousands were planted.[55][56][57] A lush grove of palm trees soon grew on what was later named Palm Beach.[58]
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,383 square miles (6,170 km2), of which 1,970 square miles (5,100 km2) are land and 413 square miles (1,070 km2) (17.3%) are covered by water.[60] It is the second-largest county in Florida by land area and third-largest by total area. Much of the water is the Atlantic Ocean andLake Okeechobee. The county has an estimated 526,000 acres (213,000 ha) of farmland.
The eastern third of Palm Beach County is highly urbanized, while the central and western portions of the county are suburban or rural.[61] Palm Beach County is one of three counties in theMiami metropolitan area.[62] However, the county's western communities along Lake Okeechobee, such asBelle Glade,South Bay, andPahokee, have also been considered more part of the ruralFlorida Heartland.[63]
The Atlantic coastline of Palm Beach County is about 47 mi (76 km) in length.[61] It consists mainly of barrier islands and peninsulas, includingJupiter Island,Singer Island, andPalm Beach Island. These islands are separated from the mainland by theIntracoastal Waterway, with much of the waterway locally known as theLake Worth Lagoon. The main barrier landmasses are split by four inlets: theJupiter Inlet, theLake Worth Inlet, theSouth Lake Worth Inlet, and the Boca Raton Inlet. Two of the four inlets are natural, but significantly altered – the Jupiter and Boca Raton inlets – while the Lake Worth and South Lake Worth inlets are man-made, with the former dug in the 1890s and the latter created between 1926 and 1927.[64] Several other islands exist within the Intracoastal Waterway, including Hypoluxo Island,Munyon Island, andPeanut Island.[65]
PreviouslyW. R. Grace and Company had its headquarters inunincorporated Palm Beach County, nearBoca Raton, employing about 130 staff.[100] On January 27, 2011, it announced it was closing the Boca headquarters and moving its administrative staff out of state along with some employees.[100][101] Likewise,A360 Media, LLC, publisher of theNational Enquirer, was headquartered in Boca Raton, but moved New York in 2014.[102]
For 2010, the median income for a household in the county was $53,242, and for a family was $64,445. Males had a median income of $44,324 versus $37,337 for females. Theper capita income for the county was $33,610. About 8.6% of families and 12.2% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 18.5% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those aged 65 or over.[103]
USL Palm Beach is an upcoming American professionalsoccer team based in Palm Beach County. Founded in 2023, the team plans to make its debut in theUSL Championship.
The County collected $1.1 billion in property tax revenue in FY 2018, an increase of 6 percent over the previous year. Sales tax collections rose to $175.8 million, marking the eighth consecutive year of growth. Revenue from Tourist Development Tax receipts was $53.8 million, up from $48.5 million in FY 2017. Meanwhile, Local Option Gas Taxes paid by motorists for gasoline decreased for the first time in five years, partially due to higher gasoline prices, which reduced the number of miles driven, according to the Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller'sChecks & Balances report.[112]
The county is governed by aboard of commissioners, consisting of seven commissioners, who are all elected from single-member districts. One of the commissioners is elected County Mayor and one of them is elected Vice Mayor.[113] Commissioners serve staggered terms, and commissioners from Districts 1, 3, 5, and 7 are elected during presidential election years, while the commissioners from Districts 2, 4, and 6 are elected in gubernatorial election years.
Elected county officers include a clerk of courts and comptroller,sheriff, property appraiser,tax collector, andsupervisor of elections. State officers serving the Florida judicial district include thestate attorney andpublic defender. All positions are 4-year terms, requiring direct election by voters in presidential election years.
Five former county commissioners have been accused or found guilty of corruption from 2006 to 2009. A grand jury recommended a stronginspector general. This position was approved by county voters in 2010. A county judge found that the mandate covered municipal government in 2015.[114]
ThePalm Beach County Sheriff's Office (PBSO) provides police services to the county's unincorporated areas and the 13 municipalities covered by PBSO.[116] PBSO also oversees the county jail system, provides security at all four of the county courthouses, and is the primary law enforcement agency coveringPalm Beach International Airport.[117] The Sheriff's Office is composed of roughly 4,200 employees, including approximately 1,600 sworn law enforcement personnel, 700 sworn corrections personnel, 1,900 civilian personnel and 1,800 volunteers.[118] The annual operating budget for the PBSO is more than $800 million, as of 2023.[119] Ric Bradshaw has been sheriff for Palm Beach County since 2005.[120]
There are two jail facilities operated by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. One is in Belle Glade, called the West Detention Center, which houses all custody levels from minimum to maximum security. At any one time it can contain up to 991 inmates (total bed capacity), with a staff of 188. The facility has a video visitation program which allows families to communicate with inmates remotely.[121] The largest jail is the Main Detention Center.[116] Three towers - South, East, and West, make up the center.[122] The largest is the South Tower, constructed in 1993 from concrete and steel at a cost of $52 million.[122] The East and West Towers were built in 1983; they now flank the South Tower, completing the Main Detention Center.[122] The Main Detention Center's primary function is to hold high risk inmates, federal inmates, and those inmates who are in need of special medical attention or are otherwise unable to operate at other facilities.[122] The total number of beds at the facility is 2,166. The South Tower can hold 1,285 inmates, the East Tower has 418 beds, and the West Tower has 404 beds.[122]
Since the founding of Palm Beach County in 1909, 16 people have served as county sheriff.[123]
As of 2025, 24 Officers and 1 K9 of the PBSO have been killed in the line of duty.[124]
As of 2025, the county has a slight Democratic plurality, with large Republican and independent minorities, respectively.[127] In gubernatorial races, the county had been a stronghold for Democrats, a trend that began in1990 and continued up until2022, when Republican governorRon DeSantis won the county with 51% of the vote against the backdrop of hislandslide reelection.[128][129]
After being carried by the Republican Party nominee in every election from1948 to1988, Palm Beach County has supported the Democratic Party nominee for the presidency since1992. Republicans have been gaining an increasing share of the votes in Palm Beach County since 2000. That year,Al Gore defeatedGeorge W. Bush in the county by a margin of approximately 27 percent; two decades later,Joe Biden defeatedDonald Trump (who is a resident of the county) by less than 13 percentage points in2020[126] and in2024,Kamala Harris carried the county over Trump by less than one percentage point.
Anadvocacy group has criticizedPalm Beach County's roadways for being dangerous for non-motorized users.[131] Local municipalities are working to increase safety, but county and state authorities have been hesitant to modify designs.[132][133]
I-95 and Florida's Turnpike are controlled-access expressways that serve Palm Beach county.Southern Boulevard (signedSR 80/US 98), which runs east–west through central Palm Beach County, is a partial freeway from Interstate 95 inWest Palm Beach toUS 441/SR 7 inWellington andRoyal Palm Beach. In the late 1980s, there were plans to construct two additional expressways in Palm Beach County. One was to be an 11.5 miles (18.5 km) toll freeway from Royal Palm Beach to downtown West Palm Beach. It would have run between Belvedere Road andOkeechobee Boulevard; necessitating the destruction of several homes and churches along its path. The other proposed route was a northern extension of theSawgrass Expressway which was to be called "University Parkway". The University Parkway would have snaked around suburban developments west ofBoca Raton,Delray Beach, andBoynton Beach; its path bordering theLoxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.[134][135] Ultimately, both expressways were canceled due to opposition from county residents.[136][137][138]
Palm Beach County is served by thePalm Beach County Library System, established in 1967 through a Special Act of theFlorida Legislature, and operates as a department of county government. It is currently made up of 17 library branches, as well as a bookmobile which travels to more than 40 stops each month. As Palm Beach County continues to see population growth, the library system will also need to plan for continued expansion.[144] Presently, the county is building a new 33,000-square-foot branch in the Canyon Town Center, located in westernBoynton Beach.[145][146] This new branch is projected to be completed in 2024. The system's Main Library is located on Summit Boulevard in an unincorporated section ofWest Palm Beach. It is the largest provider of library services in the county, serving an area that is comparable to the size of the state of Delaware, with holdings of over 1.88 million items.[147]
Unlike many county library systems, including neighboringBroward andMiami-Dade counties, several municipalities continue to operate their own libraries. The county library systems works together in a cooperative system model which allows interoperation between the county system and the 13 city libraries inBoca Raton, Boynton Beach,Delray Beach, Highland Beach, Lake Park, Lake Worth Beach, Lantana, Manalapan (J. Turner Moore Public Library), North Palm Beach, Palm Springs, Palm Beach (Society of the Four Arts), Riviera Beach, and West Palm Beach (Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach).[148]
The county's first library began as a Free Reading Room in 1895 in West Palm Beach's first church, the Union Congregational Church, when Reverend Asbury Caldwell began collecting books for a reading club he hoped would keep construction workers out of the city's many drinking establishments located along First Street, or "Thirst Street" as it was known.[149]: 53 The reading club floundered when Caldwell left West Palm Beach, but in 1899, the West Palm Beach Public Library got its official start, housed in a two-story former Palm Beach Yacht Club building donated by Commodore Charles John Clarke, a Palm Beach yachtsman, with the collection of books from the Reading Room and a $100 donation fromHenry Flagler. A permanent building was constructed in 1924 in Flagler Park along theIntracoastal Waterway. Two additional buildings have also housed the library – one at 100 Clematis Street, a state-of-art building complete with a 250-seat auditorium that opened to much fanfare in 1964. The second, located at 411 Clematis Street, is a four-story building in the West Palm Beach City Center complex, which houses both city hall and the library, is two and one-half times the size of the previous building. In 2012, the West Palm Beach Public Library Foundation formally changed its name to the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach after receiving a $5 million grant from the Mandel Foundation.[149]: 62
The largest city andcounty seat is West Palm Beach, with a population of 117,415 as of the2020 US census. Boca Raton, is the southernmost and second-largest, bordering Broward County and having 97,422 people in 2020 within its city limits.Boynton Beach (between Boca Raton and West Palm Beach), is the third-largest city, with a 2020 population nearing 80,380 residents.[150]
The county has 39 municipalities in total.[151] The municipalities are numbered corresponding to the attached image, except for the newest municipality,Westlake. Municipality populations are based on the2020 census.[152]
Palm Beach County bordersMartin County to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east,Broward County to the south, Hendry County to the west, and extends into Lake Okeechobee in the northwest, where it bordersOkeechobee County andGlades County at one point in the center of the lake.
^Language spoken at home among residents at least five years old; only languages (or language groups) which at least 2% of residents have spoken at any time since 1980 are mentioned
^"Wilma".National Weather Service. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. RetrievedSeptember 4, 2022.
^Richard J. Pasch; Eric S. Blake; Hugh D. Cobb III; David P. Roberts (September 9, 2014).Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Wilma(PDF).National Hurricane Center (Report). Miami, Florida: National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. RetrievedJune 30, 2018.
^Jennifer Peltz; et al. (October 25, 2005)."Hammered".Sun-Sentinel. p. 1. Archived fromthe original on March 4, 2016. RetrievedJune 30, 2018.
^"Barrier Islands". Historical Society of Palm Beach County. RetrievedJune 24, 2018.
^Lake Worth Lagoon Educators Guide(PDF) (Report). Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners' Department of Environmental Resources Management. January 2011. p. 8. RetrievedJune 24, 2018.
^"Census Counts: 1830-2020".Florida County Population Census Counts: 1830 to 2020. Office of Economic and Demographic Research, The Florida Legislature. 2023.Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. RetrievedJune 21, 2023.
^ab"Grace Announces Relocation To Columbia, MarylandArchived 2011-07-03 at theWayback Machine."W. R. Grace and Company. Retrieved on June 29, 2011. "The restructuring will entail a relocation of approximately 40 people, including senior management, from Grace's Boca Raton, Florida office to its Columbia, Maryland site. A few positions will be relocated to another Grace office in Cambridge, Massachusetts." and "Following the relocation, Grace will close its headquarters office at 1750 Clint Moore Road in Boca Raton, which currently employs approximately 130 people."
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