Palm Beach County, Florida


Palm Beach County is a county in the southeastern part of the State of Florida and lies directly north of Broward County and Miami-Dade County. According to a 2019 census report, the county had a population of 1,496,770, making it the third-most populous county in the state of Florida and the 25th-most populous county in the United States. The largest city and county seat is West Palm Beach. Named after one of its oldest settlements, Palm Beach, the county was established in 1909, after being split from Dade County. The county's modern-day boundaries were established in 1963.
Palm Beach County is one of the three counties in South Florida that make up the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6,198,782 people in 2018.
The area had been increasing in population since the late 19th century, with the incorporation of West Palm Beach in 1894 and after Henry Flagler extended the Florida East Coast Railway and built the Royal Poinciana Hotel, The Breakers, and Whitehall. In 1928, the Okeechobee hurricane struck Palm Beach County and caused thousands of deaths. More recently, the county acquired national attention during the 2000 presidential election, when a controversial recount occurred.
As of 2004, Palm Beach County is Florida's wealthiest county, with a per capita personal income of $44,518. It leads the state in agricultural productivity; agriculture is Palm Beach County's second-largest industry, after real estate development. In undeveloped Palm Beach County there is significant tropical agricultural production, especially nurseries, truck crops, and sugar cane. Palm Beach County has been called the "Winter Vegetable Capital" of the nation.

History

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. In 1513, Juan Ponce de León, who led a European expedition to Florida earlier that year, became the first non-Native American to reach Palm Beach County, after landing in the modern-day Jupiter area. Among the first non-Native American residents were African Americans, many of whom were former slaves or immediate descendants of former slaves. Runaway African slaves started coming to what was then Spanish Florida in the late 17th century and they found refuge among the Seminoles. During the Seminole Wars, these African-American slaves fought with the Seminoles against White settlers and bounty hunters. Portions of the Second Seminole War occurred in Palm Beach County, including the Battle of Jupiter Inlet in 1838.
The oldest surviving structure, the Jupiter Lighthouse, was built in 1860, after receiving authorization to the land from President Franklin Pierce in 1854. During the American Civil War, Florida was a member of the Confederate States of America. Two Confederate adherents removed the lighting mechanism from the lighthouse. 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 of Lake Worth in 1863 after abandoning the cause of the Confederacy. After the Civil War ended, the Jupiter Lighthouse was relit in 1866. Thirteen years later, a National Weather Service office was established at the lighthouse complex. However, the office was moved to Miami in 1911 after that city's population began to rapidly grow.
In October 1873, a hurricane caused a shipwreck between Biscayne Bay and the New River. The crew survived but nearly died due to starvation because of the desolation of the area. In response, five Houses of Refuge were built along the east coast of Florida from the Fort Pierce Inlet southward to Biscayne Bay. Orange Grove House of Refuge No. 3 was built near Delray Beach in 1876.
Henry Flagler, who was instrumental in the county's development in the late 19th century and early 20th century, first visited in 1892. He subsequently purchased land on both sides of Lake Worth. Other investors followed suit, causing a small boom and bringing in existing businesses and resulting in the establishment of many new businesses. The Royal Poinciana Hotel, constructed by Flagler to accommodate wealthy tourists, opened for business in February 1894. About a month later, the Florida 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 renamed The Breakers. He also constructed his own winter home beginning in 1900; his wife and he moved in on February 6, 1902. Flagler died there on May 20, 1913, after falling down a flight of marble stairs.
The Florida Legislature voted to establish Palm Beach County in 1909, carving it out of what was then the northern portion of Dade County and initially including all of Lake Okeechobee. The southernmost part of Palm Beach County was separated to create the northern portion of Broward County in 1915, the northwestern portion became part of Okeechobee County in 1917, and southern Martin County was created from northernmost Palm Beach County in 1925. The boundaries remained the same until 1963,
when about three-quarters of Lake Okeechobee was removed from Palm Beach County and divided among Glades, Hendry, Martin, and Okeechobee Counties. This was the final change to the county's boundaries.
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. Coastal cities were devastated, especially West Palm Beach, where more than 1,711 homes were destroyed. Further inland, wind-driven storm surge in Lake Okeechobee inundated adjacent communities, particularly Belle Glade, Pahokee, and South Bay. Hundreds of square miles were flooded, including some areas with up to of water. Numerous houses were swept away and damaged after crashing into other obstacles. At least 2,500 deaths occurred, many of whom were black migrant farmers. Damage in South Florida totaled roughly $25 million. In response to the storm, the Herbert Hoover Dike was constructed to prevent a similar disaster. As a result of this hurricane and the 1926 Miami hurricane, Palm Beach County, along with the rest of South Florida, began suffering economic turmoil and pushed the region into the Great Depression, even before the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Housing prices dropped dramatically in the county, as well as in the rest of the country.
The Palm Beach International Airport, then known as Morrison Field, opened in 1936. After the United States entered World War II, it was converted to an Air Force Base in 1942. During the war, thousands of servicemen arrived in Palm Beach County for training and supporting the war effort. Following the conclusion of World War II, a number of veterans returned to the area for work, vacation, or retirement. The base was closed and became a commercial airport again in 1962. Migration to the county by workers, tourists, and retirees continued into the 21st century.
August 28, 1949, a category-4 hurricane struck West Palm Beach with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, causing considerable damage.
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 affiliate WPTV-TV and CBS affiliate WPEC first aired in 1954 and 1955, respectively – both of which are still in existence today.
Richard Paul Pavlick nearly attempted to assassinate then President-elect John 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. Four days later, Pavlick's car, which had sticks of dynamite inside, was surrounded by police and he was arrested. Charges against Pavolick were dropped on December 2, 1963, 10 days after Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Additionally, a secret blast shelter was built on Peanut Island during his presidency because escalating Cold War tensions.
Hurricane David struck near West Palm Beach late on September 3, 1979, with sustained winds of 100 mph. 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 of rainfall. Damage in the county reached $30 million, most of which was incurred to agriculture.
The county became the center of controversy during the 2000 presidential election. Allegedly, the "butterfly ballot", designed by Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Theresa LePore, led to an unexpectedly large number of votes for Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan, rather than for Democrat Al Gore. Due to the aforementioned "butterfly ballot" and the closeness of the statewide results between Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush, manual recounts were conducted. On December 8, the Florida Supreme Court voted 4-3 to mandate manual recounts in all counties with disputed results. However, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned the decision in Bush v. Gore on December 12, allowing Florida Secretary of the State Katherine Harris to award the 25 electoral votes to Bush, as Harris's tally prior to the state-ordered recounts placed him ahead of Gore by 537 popular votes. In turn, this gave Bush victory in the national election.
Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, a Federal 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. Later that month, during the anthrax attacks, a letter containing spores of this substance was mailed to the American Media, Inc. building in Boca Raton. Three people were exposed to the anthrax, including Robert Stevens, a photo editor who later died after an infection induced by exposure.
Several tropical cyclones impacted Palm Beach County in 2004 and 2005, especially hurricanes Frances, Jeanne, and Wilma. On September 5, 2004, Frances made landfall in Martin County as a category-2 hurricane. With wind gusts in Palm Beach County peaking at, 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. 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 struck Collier 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 in Belle Glade. Over 90% of Florida Power & Light customers lost electricity. Two deaths occurred in Palm Beach County. 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.
In August 2008, Tropical Storm Fay brought generally minor flooding, with of rain over the county's eastern portions. Fay also spawned an EF-2 tornado in Wellington. About four years later, in August 2012, the outer bands of Hurricane Isaac dropped at least of rain near Lion Country Safari. The consequent flooding left neighborhoods in The Acreage, Loxahatchee, Loxahatchee Groves, Royal Palm Beach, and Wellington stranded for up to several days. As Hurricane Irma approached in September 2017, mandatory or voluntary evacuations were ordered for more than 290,000 residents of Palm Beach County. Although the storm passed well west of the county, much of the area experienced hurricane-force wind gusts, with a peak gust of in West Palm Beach. 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, as well as five fatalities.

Origin of the name

The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is not native to Florida. Its presence in what is today Palm Beach County is due to the shipwreck of the Spanish ship Providencia in 1878, near today's Mar-a-Lago. It was traveling from Havana to Cádiz, Spain with a cargo of coconuts. The shipwreck was within walking distance of the shore—the Florida State Archives conserves a picture—and a deliberate grounding so as to obtain an insurance payout has been proposed. The coconuts were salvaged, too many to be eaten, and thousands were planted. A lush grove of palm trees soon grew on what was later named Palm Beach.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which are land and are covered by water. 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 and Lake Okeechobee. The county has an estimated 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. Palm Beach County is one of three counties in the Miami metropolitan area. However, the county's western communities along Lake Okeechobee, such as Belle Glade, South Bay, and Pahokee, have also been considered part of the rural Florida Heartland.
The Atlantic coastline of Palm Beach County is about in length. It consists mainly of barrier islands and peninsulas, including Jupiter Island, Singer Island, and Palm Beach Island. These islands are separated from the mainland by the Intracoastal Waterway, with much of the waterway locally known as the Lake Worth Lagoon. The main barrier landmasses are split by four inlets: the Jupiter Inlet, the Lake Worth Inlet, the South 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. Several other islands exist within the Intracoastal Waterway, including Hypoluxo Island, Munyon Island, and Peanut Island.

Natural areas

In addition, the county has an abundance of coral reef patches along its coastline and has made efforts to preserve them.

Demographics

Of 664,594 households, 24.35% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.28% were married couples living together, 11.68% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.40% were not families. Around 30.11% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.97.
The age distribution was 20.4% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 23.7% from 25 to 44, 26.4% from 45 to 64, and 21.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.3 males.

Ethnicity

U.S. Census Bureau 2010 ethnic/race demographics:
In 2010, 4.5% of the population considered themselves to be of only "American" ancestry.
As of 2010, Haitians made up the largest population of immigrants, with Cuban exiled refugees second, Mexicans third, followed by Colombians fourth, then Jamaicans, Guatemalans, Canadians, Hondurans, ninth being Peruvians, and Brazilians being the 10th-highest group of expatriates. British, Germans, and Polish, which had held spots in Palm Beach County's top-10 immigrant list of 2000, dropped off the 2010 list, which now no longer has any European countries in its top 10.
In 2010, 22.3% of the county's population was foreign born, with 43.7% being naturalized American citizens. Of foreign-born residents, 71.3% were born in Latin America, 13.6% were born in Europe, 9.2% born in Asia, 4.0% in North America, 1.8% born in Africa, and 0.1% were born in Oceania.

Language

As of 2010, 73.13% of all residents spoke English as a primary language, while 15.69% spoke Spanish, 4.03% French Creole, 1.06% French, 0.94% Portuguese, and 0.54% of the population spoke Italian.

Economy

Companies headquartered in Palm Beach County include Office Depot, The ADT Corporation, TBC Corporation, G4S Secure Solutions, BIOMET 3i, Campus Management Corp., Cross Match Technologies, NextEra Energy, The GEO Group, Globalsat Group, Bluegreen Vacations and Florida Crystals.
Although not headquartered in Palm Beach County there is a significant number of aerospace focused facilities operating in the northern part of the county. Aerospace companies with facilities located within the county include United Technologies, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Sikorsky Aircraft, General Dynamics, Belcan Engineering Group and Lockheed Martin. Many of these companies rank among the top 100 employers for the county. The largest employer in Palm Beach County is The School District of Palm Beach County, with 27,168 employees, including more than 12,800 teachers.
Previously W. R. Grace and Company had its headquarters in unincorporated Palm Beach County, near Boca Raton. Prior to its closing, the Boca Raton headquarters had about 130 employees. On January 27, 2011 it announced it was closing the Boca headquarters and moving its administrative staff out of state along with some employees.
Previously, American Media, publisher of the National Enquirer, was headquartered in the Boca Raton. It still maintains an office there, but moved the National Enquirer to New York in 2014.
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. The per capita income for the county was $33,610. About 8.6% of families and 12.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.5% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those aged 65 or over.

Culture

Sports

The St. Louis Cardinals and the Miami Marlins conduct their spring training at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter. Two teams in the Class A-Advanced Florida State League also play their home games at Roger Dean Stadium: the Jupiter Hammerheads, an affiliate of the Miami Marlins, and the Palm Beach Cardinals, an affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, opened in February 2017 in West Palm Beach, accommodates both the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros for spring training.
Prior to the construction of Roger Dean Stadium, the Montreal Expos and Atlanta Braves held their spring training at Municipal Stadium in West Palm Beach. The West Palm Beach Expos, a Single-A affiliate of the Montreal Expos, also played their games there.
Also popular are the Florida Atlantic Owls, an NCAA Division I school that participates in Conference USA. The FAU football team plays at FAU Stadium, and averaged 17,941 fans during the 2017 season. The FAU basketball team plays at FAU Arena, and averaged 1,346 fans during the 2013–14 season.
The Palm Beach Imperials are an American Basketball Association 2006 expansion franchise.

Tourism

Tourists can visit these attractions and annual events:
A number of shopping malls exist throughout Palm Beach County, including the Palm Beach Outlets, Rosemary Square, Boynton Beach Mall, The Gardens Mall, Town Center at Boca Raton, The Mall at Wellington Green and Mizner Park. Formerly, the Palm Beach and Cross County Malls operated in the county, though they closed in 1997 and 2010, respectively.

Media

The Florida Department of Corrections operates the Glades Correctional Institution in an unincorporated area in Palm Beach County near Belle Glade.
Palm Beach County’s revenue from property taxes, sales taxes and tourist development taxes reached record levels in Fiscal Year 2018, according to the ’s annual financial report,  
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 & Comptroller’s report.

County government

The county is governed by a board 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. 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.
Dave Kerner is the current County Mayor, with a designated term of 2019-2020. He is the only member of the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners who is a native of the county. At 36 years of age, he is also the youngest member of the BOCC.
Elected county officers include a clerk of courts and comptroller, sheriff, property appraiser, tax collector, and supervisor of elections. State officers serving the Florida judicial district include the state attorney and public 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 strong inspector general. This position was approved by county voters in 2010. A county judge found that the mandate covered municipal government in 2015.
Palm Beach County OfficialsPalm Beach County OfficialsPalm Beach County Officials
PositionIncumbent-
District 1 CommissionerHal R. Valeche-
District 2 CommissionerGregg Weiss-
District 3 CommissionerCounty Mayor Dave Kerner-
District 4 CommissionerVice Mayor Robert S. Weinroth-
District 5 CommissionerMary Lou Berger-
District 6 CommissionerMelissa McKinlay-
District 7 CommissionerMayor Mack Bernard-
Clerk and ComptrollerSharon R. Bock-
SheriffRic Bradshaw-
Property AppraiserDorothy Jacks-
Tax CollectorAnne M. Gannon-
Supervisor of ElectionsWendy Sartory Link-
State AttorneyDave Aronberg-
Public DefenderCarey Haughwout-

Elections

YearRepublicanDemocraticThird parties
201640.9% 272,40256.2% 374,6732.9% 19,137
201241.1% 247,39858.1% 349,6510.7% 4,390
200838.2% 226,03761.1% 361,2710.7% 4,128
200439.1% 212,68860.4% 328,6870.6% 3,247
200035.3% 152,96462.3% 269,7542.4% 10,504
199633.7% 133,81158.1% 230,6878.3% 32,856
199234.6% 140,35046.4% 187,86919.0% 77,032
198855.5% 181,49544.1% 144,1990.5% 1,523
198461.7% 186,81138.3% 116,0910.0% 29
198056.8% 143,63936.4% 91,9916.8% 17,300
197649.5% 98,23648.7% 96,7051.9% 3,716
197272.4% 108,67027.2% 40,8250.5% 708
196853.2% 62,19128.1% 32,83718.7% 21,894
196453.1% 49,61446.9% 43,836
196060.3% 45,33739.7% 29,871
195671.4% 35,74628.6% 14,321
195267.6% 28,59532.4% 13,723
194845.6% 10,99639.0% 9,40815.4% 3,711
194440.8% 7,62859.3% 11,093
194038.3% 7,37161.7% 11,884
193631.7% 4,47868.3% 9,635
193234.1% 4,00665.9% 7,734
192864.2% 5,29832.2% 2,6523.6% 298
192446.1% 1,72641.3% 1,54312.6% 472
192048.7% 1,89238.3% 1,48813.0% 506
191622.2% 31151.7% 72526.2% 367
19124.3% 3163.2% 45832.6% 236

Voter registration

As of May 1, 2020, the county had a strong Democratic plurality, with large Republican and independent minorities, respectively.

Political history

Since 1992, Palm Beach County has supported a Democrat for the presidency. Prior to 1992, the county had been carried by a Republican every four years since 1948. Palm Beach County was the center of a nationwide media storm in 2000 when it appeared to have impacted the presidential election that year between eventual winner George W. Bush and Al Gore. A major source of controversy was the butterfly ballot used in Palm Beach County, a confusing ballot design that may have caused many voters to mistakenly vote for Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan instead of Al Gore. Buchanan had an unexpectedly strong showing in the county. In the end, Gore carried the county, but Bush captured the state of Florida by 537 votes after the recount was effectively halted by the Supreme Court of the United States in Bush v. Gore.
In the 2004 presidential election, President Bush garnered more votes in the state, but trailed Democrat John Kerry by 60.35%-39.05%. During the United States Senate election, Betty Castor carried Palm Beach County against Republican Mel Martinez by a slightly wider margin of 22.26%. In 2006, incumbent Senator Bill Nelson trounced Katherine Harris, receiving about 72.54% of the vote. Then-Republican Charlie Crist was defeated in the county by Jim Davis by 59.71%-38.28%. In the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama increased the Democratic victory margin from four years earlier and took about 61.08% of the vote against John McCain in the county.
In the 2010 gubernatorial election, Alex Sink won Palm Beach County by a margin of 18.67% against Rick Scott. That same year, then-independent United States Senate candidate and former Governor Crist carried Palm Beach County by just under 3,000 votes, or a margin of only 0.74%. President Obama, who was re-elected in 2012, won by a smaller margin in the county, with Mitt Romney managing to receive 41.18% of the vote. During the Class I United States Senate seat election in Florida, incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson garnered 55.2% of the vote against challenger Connie Mack IV in Palm Beach County. Former Governor Crist, who became a Democrat, garnered 58.8% of the vote against Governor Scott in the 2014 gubernatorial election.

Federal representation

In the United States House of Representatives, Palm Beach County is represented by three Democrats and one Republican: Brian Mast of the 18th district, Alcee Hastings of the 20th district, Ted Deutch of the 21st district, and Lois Frankel of the 22nd district.

Transportation

Roadways

An advocacy group has criticized
Palm Beach County's roadways for being dangerous for non-motorized users. Local municipalities are working to increase safety, but county and state authorities have been hesitant to modify designs.

Expressways

I-95 and Florida's Turnpike are controlled-access expressways that serve Palm Beach county. Southern Boulevard, which runs east–west through central Palm Beach County, is a partial freeway from Interstate 95 in West Palm Beach to US 441/SR 7 in Wellington and Royal Palm Beach. In the late 1980s, there were plans to construct two additional expressways in Palm Beach County. One was to be an toll freeway from Royal Palm Beach to downtown West Palm Beach. It would have run between Belvedere Road and Okeechobee Boulevard; necessitating the destruction of several homes and churches along its path. The other proposed route was a northern extension of the Sawgrass Expressway which was to be called "University Parkway". The University Parkway would have snaked around suburban developments west of Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and Boynton Beach; its path bordering the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. Ultimately, both expressways were canceled due to opposition from county residents.

Major highways

The national intercity train system, Amtrak, offers the Silver Meteor and the Silver Star in West Palm Beach and Delray Beach.
The Port of Palm Beach is located in Riviera Beach, where Celebration Cruise Line operates 2-day cruises to the Bahamas.

Trails

The Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, a segment of the Florida National Scenic Trail, passes through the county.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

All of Palm Beach County is served by the School District of Palm Beach County. As of 2006, it was the 4th largest school district in Florida and the 11th largest school district in the United States. As of August 2006, the district operated 164 schools, including 25 high schools, and, as of July 22, 2006 had an additional 33 charter schools, with seven more scheduled to open in August 2006. Newsweek listed three Palm Beach County high schools in the top 50 schools in the list 1200 Top U.S. Schools - Atlantic Community High School, Suncoast High School and the Alexander Dreyfoos School of the Arts, all public magnet schools. Private schools in the county include American Heritage School, Cardinal Newman High School, Jupiter Christian School, The King's Academy, The Benjamin School, Oxbridge Academy, Palm Beach Day Academy, Pope John Paul II High School, St Andrew's School and Weinbaum Yeshiva High School.

Colleges and universities

Palm Beach County is served by the Palm Beach County Library System was established in 1967 through a Special Act of the Florida 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. Presently, the county plans to build a new 30,000-square-foot branch in the Canyon Town Center, located in western Boynton Beach. This new branch is projected to be completed in 2021.
The system’s Main Library is located on Summit Boulevard in an unincorporated section of West Palm Beach, the county seat. 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 1.9 million items. ounty c
Unlike many county library systems, including neighboring Broward and Miami-Dade counties, many of the county’s 39 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 which include:
The oldest library in Palm Beach County is the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach, formerly known as the West Palm Beach Public Library. It began as a Free Reading Room in the city’s first church, the Union Congregational Church, in 1895 when the 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. 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 from Henry Flagler. A permanent building was constructed in 1924 in Flagler Park along the Intracoastal 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 received a five-million-dollar grant from the Mandel Foundation and its name was formally changed to the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach.

Communities

The largest city and county seat is West Palm Beach, with an estimated population over 105,000. Additionally, the approximate urban population is 250,000 when including adjacent unincorporated neighborhoods. Boca Raton, is the southernmost and second-largest, bordering Broward and having a population approaching 90,000. Boynton Beach, is the third-largest city, with a population nearing 70,000 residents.
The county has 39 municipalities in total. The municipalities are numbered corresponding to the attached image, except for the newest municipality, Westlake. Municipality populations are based on the 2010 Census.
#Incorporated CommunityDesignationDate incorporatedPopulation
24AtlantisCity2,005
2Belle GladeCity17,467
37Boca RatonCity84,392
30Boynton BeachCity68,217
33Briny BreezesTown601
18Cloud LakeTown135
35Delray BeachCity60,522
17Glen RidgeTown219
32GolfVillage252
23GreenacresCity37,573
34Gulf StreamTown786
16HaverhillTown1,873
36Highland BeachTown3,539
29HypoluxoTown2,588
7Juno BeachTown3,176
6JupiterTown55,156
5Jupiter Inlet ColonyTown400
20Lake Clarke ShoresTown3,376
10Lake ParkTown8,155
25Lake Worth BeachCity34,910
27LantanaTown10,423
38Loxahatchee GrovesTown3,180
28ManalapanTown406
13Mangonia ParkTown1,888
9North Palm BeachVillage12,015
31Ocean RidgeTown1,786
1PahokeeCity5,649
14Palm BeachTown8,348
8Palm Beach GardensCity48,452
12Palm Beach ShoresTown1,142
19Palm SpringsVillage18,928
11Riviera BeachCity32,488
21Royal Palm BeachVillage34,140
3South BayCity4,876
26South Palm BeachTown1,171
4TequestaVillage5,629
22WellingtonVillage56,508
39WestlakeCity5
15West Palm BeachCity99,919

Golfview was an incorporated town in Palm Beach County from 1936 until 1997.

Census-designated places

Several unincorporated parts of Palm Beach County were listed as census-designated places for the 2000 census, but were not listed for the 2010 census:
Palm Beach County borders Martin 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 borders Okeechobee County and Glades County at one point in the center of the lake.

Other unincorporated area