Photo: Excel23 · CC BY-SA 4.0At 6.1%, unemployment in Palm Bay is higher than in 75% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Palm Bay are C+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. About one in five stay in Palm Bay for work; outside it, Melbourne is the main destination (23%, 11 miles). Working residents average 28 minutes each way, about the same as across Florida.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Palm Bay, in brief
Jobs in Palm Bay have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Palm Bay went from 16,880 in 2013 to 34,231 in 2023, +103%. The jobs ↓
Palm Bay and Melbourne trade workers both ways
Melbourne is the top workplace for Palm Bay residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Palm Bay come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The four measures behind Palm Bay’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Palm Bay is better than 40% of U.S. towns, #422 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car holds Palm Bay’s grade up (ahead of 59% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Palm Bay could be anywhere from C to B−.
Inside Palm Bay’s 34,231 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Palm Bay, 2013 → 2023: 16,880 → 34,231. 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 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Palm Bay’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that employ Palm Bay’s residents
Where Palm Bay clocks in
23% 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.
Miles to work from Palm Bay
About 31% 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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Palm Bay by day and by night
On a workday 41,104 residents head out to work, 9,835 work right here, and 24,396 people come in from elsewhere.
About 131,000 people are in Palm Bay on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.67 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Commuting from Palm Bay: about 28 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Palm Bay workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 51,861 commuters (the 11% 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.
Driving is how Palm Bay gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Palm Bay is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns, #301 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.1% 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 58,264 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 61% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 8% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 65% 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). 4.7% of Palm Bay households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Palm Bay’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Out of 236 U.S. towns of 104,000 to 200,000, Palm Bay comes 171st on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carmel IN | 105,634 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 2 | Clay Township IN | 104,932 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 3 | Fishers IN | 104,812 | $130K | 4.0% | 2.8% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 54 | Riverview FL | 113,697 | $100K | 7.5% | 4.3% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Miramar FL | 142,570 | $89K | 8.5% | 4.5% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Coral Springs FL | 138,783 | $94K | 7.6% | 5.1% | 13% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 169 | Newport News VA | 183,230 | $70K | 14.5% | 5.8% | 40% | C+ |
| 170 | Odessa TX | 122,707 | $73K | 16.2% | 5.9% | 43% | C+ |
| 171 | Palm Bay FL | 148,092 | $73K | 11.7% | 6.1% | 19% | C+ |
| 172 | Independence MO | 121,675 | $60K | 15.8% | 5.6% | 16% | C+ |
| 173 | Pompano Beach FL | 117,211 | $67K | 15.2% | 8.0% | 15% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 236 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Palm Bay, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Bordering towns draw 28% of Palm Bay’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Palm Bay workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Bay | – | C+ | B+ | 28 min | $72,614 |
| Grant-Valkaria | under 1% | A | D | 33 min | $119,583 |
| Malabar | under 1% | A | C | 26 min | $128,698 |
| Melbourne | 23% | C+ | A | 23 min | $66,991 |
| West Melbourne | 5% | B+ | B | 23 min | $92,986 |
| Micco | under 1% | C | C | 24 min | $45,794 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Melbourne. Darker towns draw more of Palm Bay’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 2023, 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 Palm Bay: questions
What is the median household income in Palm Bay?
$72,614 (±$3,753) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Palm Bay?
11.7%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Palm Bay?
28 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Palm Bay work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Melbourne (23%, 11 mi), West Melbourne (5%, 7 mi), Rockledge (4%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Palm Bay walkable?
Palm Bay is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Palm Bay without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 8% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Palm Bay, from the people who make the trip.
More of Palm Bay
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, 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.