Palm Beach County’s Population Growth
Bottom Line: It’s been well established that Florida’s been the fastest growing state in the country. That’s been true in terms of population, it’s been true in terms of our economy. And in fact, each time we receive new population estimates from the Census Bureau, they’re seemingly revised higher. Last week’s release showed that Florida added an average of 1,218 net new residents a day over the past year. Those are the highest rates of population growth yet. While Southeast Florida has long been Florida’s most populous region, over the past decade all other regions of the state have grown faster. That generally remained the case over the past year however Florida’s three most populous counties, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach remain Florida’s three most populous with PBC being the fastest growing of the three.
Of the greater than 1,200 new Floridians per day over the past year, about 47 of them per day made their way to the Palm Beaches. PBC appears to have led the region in population growth with greater than 17,200 new residents, or 1.1% more people, compared to this time last year. And most new Palm Beachers are coming in from elsewhere, as just under 31% of Palm Beach County’s residents were born here. That’s about 4% lower than the state average. So, while most of us are not originally from here, many continue to gravitate here, and it appears Palm Beach County may have become the most desirable destination in South Florida. At a minimum it was last year.