West Palm Beach is a larger medium-sized coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Florida. With a population of 120,932 people and 65 associated neighborhoods, West Palm Beach is the 17th largest community in Florida.
Of important note, West Palm Beach is also a city of artists. West Palm Beach has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape West Palm Beach’s character.
Also of interest is that West Palm Beach has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
A relatively large number of people in West Palm Beach telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 11.59% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
One thing that you will notice about West Palm Beach is that there is a good-sized population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile career starters. Many singles consider West Palm Beach a good place to live without being in a really big city, with opportunities for friendships and fun with others like themselves.
West Palm Beach is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.
The population of West Palm Beach is very well educated relative to most cities and towns in the nation, where the average community has 21.84% of its adult population holding a 4-year degree or higher: 37.48% of adults in West Palm Beach have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.
The per capita income in West Palm Beach in 2022 was $41,610, which is upper middle income relative to Florida and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $166,440 for a family of four. However, West Palm Beach contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
West Palm Beach is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call West Palm Beach home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of West Palm Beach residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. West Palm Beach also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 24.67% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in West Palm Beach include Irish, German, English, Italian, and Haitian.
Foreign born people are also an important part of West Palm Beach's cultural character, accounting for 28.13% of the city’s population.
The most common language spoken in West Palm Beach is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and French.