Photo: sailn1 · CC BY 2.0At 2.3%, unemployment in North Palm Beach is lower than in 80% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 22% of workers; Florida has 16%. The two grades for North Palm Beach are A− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Only 7% work in North Palm Beach; the top destination outside it is West Palm Beach (13%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in North Palm Beach, in a few figures
North Palm Beach trades workers with the towns around it
North Palm Beach has about as many jobs (4,698) as working residents (5,252), but they are mostly different people: 4,866 residents leave for work each day while 4,312 people come in. Only 8% of the jobs in North Palm Beach are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from North Palm Beach are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 28 across Florida. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Florida worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Jobs & income in North Palm Beach: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, North Palm Beach is better than 84% of U.S. towns, #67 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 82% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (7.7%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, North Palm Beach could be anywhere from B+ to A.
The daily commute in and out of North Palm Beach
On a workday 4,866 residents head out to work, 386 work right here, and 4,312 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.89 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Time on the road from North Palm Beach: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of North Palm Beach workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,439 commuters (the 22% who work from home are left out). Across Florida: 83% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Where the trip to work from North Palm Beach ends
Where North Palm Beach clocks in
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Most jobs in North Palm Beach are in services
4,698 jobs are based in North Palm Beach.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in North Palm Beach, 2014 → 2024: 3,869 → 4,698. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs North Palm Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from North Palm Beach to work
About 21% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Good to walk, short on transit: North Palm Beach
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, North Palm Beach is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #176 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.6% across Florida.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,684 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 40% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.6% of North Palm Beach households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of North Palm Beach’s commuters take a bus or train.
North Palm Beach places 626th of 2,526 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 9,000 to 18,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 131 | Lake Butler FL | 17,125 | $183K | 3.7% | 2.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 195 | Lake Mary FL | 16,789 | $109K | 3.5% | 2.6% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 239 | Key Biscayne FL | 14,815 | $182K | 5.5% | 2.8% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 624 | Clayton OH | 13,397 | $93K | 7.0% | 2.5% | 6% | A− |
| 625 | Blackstone MA | 9,416 | $94K | 8.0% | 2.6% | 6% | A− |
| 626 | North Palm Beach FL | 13,319 | $90K | 7.7% | 2.3% | 7% | A− |
| 627 | East Haddam CT | 9,043 | $108K | 4.4% | 3.6% | 12% | A− |
| 628 | Soldier Township KS | 15,282 | $100K | 4.1% | 3.2% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,526 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of North Palm Beach, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Next door is work for 18% of North Palm Beach
The biggest share goes to Palm Beach Gardens (12%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | North Palm Beach workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Palm Beach | – | A− | A− | 20 min | $90,049 |
| Palm Beach Gardens | 12% | A− | B+ | 23 min | $106,947 |
| Lake Park | 3% | B− | A | 21 min | $70,954 |
| Riviera Beach | 3% | C | A | 25 min | $68,060 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of North Palm Beach’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in North Palm Beach: questions
What is the median household income in North Palm Beach?
$90,049 (±$10,726) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in North Palm Beach?
7.7%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from North Palm Beach?
20 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in North Palm Beach work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are West Palm Beach (13%, 7 mi), Palm Beach Gardens (12%, 7 mi), Jupiter (6%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is North Palm Beach walkable?
North Palm Beach is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 14.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around North Palm Beach without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 40% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from North Palm Beach, from the people who make the trip.
More of North Palm Beach
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.