Photo: Stephen B Calvert Clariosophic · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Palm City top those of 90% of U.S. towns
Palm City grades B+ for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. 5.6% of residents are in poverty; Florida has 12.6%. About one in ten work in Palm City; the top destination outside it is Stuart (20%, 3 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Palm City stands out on work
Palm City has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Palm City went from 4,113 in 2013 to 6,054 in 2023, +47%. The jobs ↓
A lot of Palm City works from home
25% of Palm City workers work from home, against 16% across Florida. Time on the road ↓
A lot of Palm City works one town over
25% of working residents work in a town that borders Palm City: Stuart (20%) and Port St. Lucie (5%). Next door ↓
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.
What’s behind Palm City’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Palm City is better than 74% of U.S. towns, #138 of 638 in Florida. Household income holds Palm City’s grade up ($125,820, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.9%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Palm City could be anywhere from B to A.
Inside Palm City’s 6,054 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Palm City, 2013 → 2023: 4,113 → 6,054. 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 City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Palm City: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Palm City workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,999 commuters (the 25% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Palm City
On a workday 9,502 residents head out to work, 942 work right here, and 5,112 people come in from elsewhere.
About 22,000 people are in Palm City on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.58 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.
Where Palm City’s working residents head each day
Where Palm City clocks in
20% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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.
Half of Palm City commutes less than 18 miles
About 27% 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.
Driving is how Palm City gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Palm City is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns, #523 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.1% 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 11,950 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.0% of Palm City households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Palm City’s commuters take a bus or train.
703rd of 1,645: where Palm City ranks among U.S. towns of 18,000 to 36,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Pinecrest FL | 18,635 | $206K | 4.3% | 3.0% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Palm Valley FL | 19,796 | $117K | 4.2% | 1.2% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 111 | Jacksonville Beach FL | 23,615 | $121K | 4.8% | 1.8% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 701 | Middleborough MA | 25,149 | $97K | 6.2% | 4.7% | 13% | B+ |
| 702 | Ramona CA | 22,634 | $107K | 6.2% | 4.1% | 14% | B+ |
| 703 | Palm City FL | 26,371 | $126K | 5.6% | 4.9% | 9% | B+ |
| 704 | Fish Hawk FL | 26,186 | $135K | 7.2% | 4.2% | 4% | B+ |
| 705 | East Haven CT | 27,925 | $95K | 7.2% | 4.9% | 8% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,645 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 City, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
25% of Palm City works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Palm City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palm City | – | B+ | C+ | 32 min | $125,820 |
| North River Shores | under 2% | C+ | C+ | 27 min | $75,896 |
| Stuart | 20% | C− | A | 25 min | $60,225 |
| Port St. Lucie | 5% | B− | B− | 31 min | $80,648 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Stuart. Darker towns draw more of Palm City’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 City: questions
What is the median household income in Palm City?
$125,820 (±$17,865) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Palm City?
5.6%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Palm City?
32 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 25% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Palm City work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Stuart (20%, 3 mi), Port St. Lucie (5%, 9 mi), Jupiter (4%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Palm City walkable?
Palm City is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Palm City without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Palm City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Palm City
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.