Photo: Andyrkellergmail · CC BY-SA 4.0Palm Coast’s library runs 5.3 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Flagler County Public Library serves 130,760 people in and around Palm Coast. Last year it lent 391K print books and media and logged 240K visits.
What’s behind Palm Coast’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Palm Coast is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns, #165 of 273 in Florida. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #235. Palm Coast is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Flagler County Public Library spends $14 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($58K–$97K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
252 community nonprofits are registered in Palm Coast
2.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (75 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 16 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.1%
6.1% of Palm Coast’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.6% in the typical Florida town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Palm Coast’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Flagler County Public Library serves 130,760 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 86 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Flagler County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
391K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Palm Coast’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Flagler County Public Library, 2500 Palm Coast Parkway NW, Palm Coast.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.89 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Palm Coast cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $1.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.8M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 54,217 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Coast | Flagler County Public Library | — | 50 | C− |
| Bunnell | Bunnell Branch | — | 38 | B− |
| Flagler Beach | Flagler Beach Public Library | — | — | B+ |
| Espanola | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Flagler County Public Library serves 130,760 people in and around Palm Coast, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Palm Coast.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Palm Coast
Does Palm Coast have a public library?
Yes. Flagler County Public Library, 2500 Palm Coast Parkway NW, serves 130,760 people in and around Palm Coast (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Flagler County Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Palm Coast’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 3.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Palm Coast’s civic life grade?
C− Palm Coast is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns on civic life, #165 of 273 in Florida. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Palm Coast.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.