Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
West Palm Beach is a city of 127,189, and it grades C− overall, 455th among Florida's 634 graded towns. It is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns. The trade-offs: homes are expensive, about $405K for a typical one and 5.3 times the Miami metro’s $77K median household income, and its police reported 641 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 86% of U.S. towns. 42% of the land in West Palm Beach is conserved, where Florida’s towns sit at 3% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. Its National Register listings include Old Palm Beach Junior College Building and Seaboard Coastline Railroad Passenger Station. On the outdoors, just 15 of Florida’s 779 towns do better.
Where West Palm Beach beats most towns.
Seaboard Coastline Railroad Passenger Station
Its 29 National Register listings are more than in 96% of Florida towns with a listing.
Census counts: 564 in 1900, 117,415 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1893 and 4 maps from 1946 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Florida), ordered by how far West Palm Beach is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around West Palm Beach. Close and well known come first.
6 mi MuseumFlagler Museum
in town MuseumNorton Museum of Art
38 mi Stadium & arenaChase Stadium
26 mi Stadium & arenaFAU Stadium12 mi Zoo & aquariumLion Country Safariin town Zoo & aquariumPalm Beach ZooFlagler Museum: Roger Wollstadt from Sarasota, Florida, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Norton Museum of Art: Ebyabe, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Chase Stadium: elisfkc2, CC BY-SA 2.0 · FAU Stadium: Jerseydem, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in West Palm Beach, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 17, 2025.
Ordered by what stands out in West Palm Beach.
West Palm Beach draws workers from Palm Beach Gardens and beyond, keeps more of its land conserved than most of Florida and has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns.
Its 15,390 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 99% of Florida towns. Its A+ for the outdoors ranks #12 of 638 in Florida.
59 miles of trail in 42 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Grassy Waters Preserve, 12,995 acres with 15.5 miles of trail. At 1.0 miles per square mile, West Palm Beach’s trail density is against 0.4 in Florida’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Grassy Waters Preserve | 15.5 mi | 12,995 |
| 2. Torquise Necklace Greenway, M-Canal | 4.2 mi | 262 |
| 3. SWA Greenway Trail System | 3.7 mi | 471 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Palm Beach school district. Three of its 44 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bak Middle School of the ArtsLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,246 | A+ |
| Palm Beach Lakes High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,809 | D |
| Alexander W Dreyfoos Junior School of the ArtsTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,352 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within FL on state tests and graduation
88,739 jobs are based in West Palm Beach, 1.9 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here grew from 67,783 in 2013 to 88,739.
About one in 5 of West Palm Beach’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in West Palm Beach grew to 88,739 in 2023, 20,956 more than in 2013. 14% of residents live below the poverty line in West Palm Beach.
| West Palm Beach | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 22% | 5% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Reported crimes fell from 3,708 to 2,576 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The violent crime rate in West Palm Beach is 4.9 per 1,000 residents. West Palm Beach reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 86% report less. The property crime rate in West Palm Beach is 14.8 per 1,000 residents.
| West Palm Beach | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.9 per 1,000 residents | 2.1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 14.8 per 1,000 residents | 12.6 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
January nights average 56°, milder than in 99% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 90.7°. The Loxahatchee Nwr weather station, 18 miles away, records that about 66 days a year reach 90°: more than most of the country, but fewer than 78% of Florida places with climate records.
West Palm Beach has warm winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. West Palm Beach’s January low is 56°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
| West Palm Beach | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 56°F | 51°F | 22°F |
| July high | 91°F | 91°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
281 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 29 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 59% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 281 flood insurance claims have been paid out in West Palm Beach.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
51% of West Palm Beach households own their home. The typical West Palm Beach home is worth about $405,000, up 2.4% in a year, 8% above the Florida typical home.
| West Palm Beach | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 51% | 72% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,772 a month | $1,647 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 59% | 59% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Florida average. West Palm Beach has grown 8.4% since 2020, to 127,189 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 39% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 34% across Florida.
| West Palm Beach | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 18% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 39% | 31% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 22% | 20% | 18% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.3 points. Across Florida, 50.9% of residents are women. Median age: women 44.0, men 39.0.
| West Palm Beach | FL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.9% | 10.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.8% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.5% | 8.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.8% | 12.7% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.3% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.2% | 13.4% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.7% | 11.7% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.8% | 9.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 12.8% | 10.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 21.4% | 27.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.5% | 18.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.1% | 10.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 24.4% | 21.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.7% | 12.9% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
West Palm Beach beats the Florida average on 2 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 5.
| West Palm Beach | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 18% | 23% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 8.1% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 16% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 35% |
| What stands out | West Palm Beach | FL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 8.2% | 9.1% |
| Fewer adults with high cholesterol | 35.3% | 39% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 10.6% | 8.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
5 within 15 miles of the center of West Palm Beach
About 7 of every 100 West Palm Beach residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Florida.
41.5% of the town is conserved land, across 42 parks and preserves.
29 places in West Palm Beach on the National Register of Historic Places.
35 notable people were born in West Palm Beach.
City in southeast Florida, United States
West Palm Beach (WPB) is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. It is the largest city in Palm Beach County, and at the time of the 2020 census, its population was 117,415. West Palm Beach is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to 6.14 million people in 2020. It is the oldest incorporated municipality in the South Florida area, incorporated as a city two years before Miami in November 1894. West Palm Beach is located approximately 68 miles (109 km) north of Downtown Miami.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with West Palm Beach.
| Town | FL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Palm Beach | #455 | C− | D− | D | B+ | B− |
| Riviera Beach | #557 | D | D | D− | B+ | C |
| Palm Beach Gardens | #115 | B | D− | B− | B+ | A |
| Mangonia Park | #564 | D | C− | D− | B+ | D |
| Palm Beach | #81 | B | D− | B− | B+ | A |
| Lake Clarke Shores | #50 | B+ | C− | — | B+ | A− |
| Lake Worth Beach | #566 | D | D | D | B+ | C− |
Lake Clarke Shores reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare West Palm Beach with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
West Palm Beach grades C− overall, better than 20% of U.S. towns and #455 of 634 in Florida. It grades B− for health, D for safety and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D−.
35 notable people were born here, including Tiffany Trump and A. J. McLean.
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