Photo: j.s. clark/ "Image by jsclark.net." · CC BY-SA 2.0More people are out of work in Panama City Beach (5.0%) than in 61% of U.S. towns
Panama City Beach grades C+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.1 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 31.0 in Miami. About one in four work in Panama City Beach; the top destination outside it is Panama City (18%, 21 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Panama City Beach apart
Panama City Beach is where the jobs are
Panama City Beach has 12,103 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Panama City Beach are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 28 across Florida. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Florida worker. Time on the road ↓
The biggest group of Panama City Beach’s workers comes from Panama City
1,147 of the people who work in Panama City Beach live in Panama City, 21 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
33% of the jobs based in Panama City Beach are held by workers 29 or younger, against 23% of Panama City Beach’s own working residents. The jobs ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Panama City Beach
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Panama City Beach is better than 44% of U.S. towns, #387 of 638 in Florida. Household income holds Panama City Beach’s grade up ($80,941, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Panama City Beach could be anywhere from C to B.
The daily commute in and out of Panama City Beach
On a workday 5,620 residents head out to work, 1,726 work right here, and 10,377 people come in from elsewhere.
About 25,000 people are in Panama City Beach on a workday afternoon, 23% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
From Panama City Beach, about 21 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Panama City Beach workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,910 commuters (the 13% 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 daily trip into Panama City Beach
Where Panama City Beach clocks in
3% 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.
What Panama City Beach’s employers do
12,103 jobs are based in Panama City Beach.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Panama City Beach, 2014 → 2024: 10,912 → 12,103. 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 Panama City Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Panama City Beach
About 25% 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.
In Panama City Beach, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Panama City Beach is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns, #191 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above 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 10,262 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, <1% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 60% 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). 4.5% of Panama City Beach households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Panama City Beach’s commuters take a bus or train.
Panama City Beach is 1,345th of 1,931 U.S. towns of 14,000 to 28,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 72 | Pinecrest FL | 18,635 | $206K | 4.3% | 3.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 98 | Lake Butler FL | 17,125 | $183K | 3.7% | 2.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 127 | Palm Valley FL | 19,796 | $117K | 4.2% | 1.2% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,343 | Chicago Ridge IL | 14,036 | $69K | 20.4% | 5.5% | 5% | C+ |
| 1,344 | St. Helens OR | 14,450 | $83K | 10.0% | 3.6% | 17% | C+ |
| 1,345 | Panama City Beach FL | 20,375 | $81K | 10.0% | 5.0% | 23% | C+ |
| 1,346 | Port St. John FL | 25,120 | $88K | 9.9% | 6.3% | 3% | C+ |
| 1,347 | Suitland MD | 23,793 | $72K | 13.5% | 8.7% | 1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,931 | 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 Panama City Beach, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Panama City Beach and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Lower Grand Lagoon (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Panama City Beach workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panama City Beach | – | C+ | A− | 21 min | $80,941 |
| Lower Grand Lagoon | 1% | B− | A | 24 min | $74,044 |
| Laguna Beach | 1% | B | A | 18 min | $76,607 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Panama City 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 Panama City Beach: questions
What is the median household income in Panama City Beach?
$80,941 (±$2,656) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Panama City Beach?
10.0%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Panama City Beach?
21 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Panama City Beach work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Panama City (18%, 21 mi), Upper Grand Lagoon (5%, 8 mi), Lynn Haven (3%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Panama City Beach walkable?
Panama City Beach is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 10.8 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Panama City Beach without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. <1% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Panama City Beach, from the people who make the trip.
More of Panama City 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.