Alfred J. Comeau House · Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 3.0A job hub: West Palm Beach has 1.9 jobs per working resident, and 80,481 people come in to work
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.1 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 31.0 in Miami. Employers in West Palm Beach report 90,770 jobs, and 48,464 of its residents work somewhere. Jobs and income earn West Palm Beach B−; getting around on foot earns it A.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set West Palm Beach apart
West Palm Beach is where the jobs are
West Palm Beach has 90,770 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
West Palm Beach draws workers from far and wide
The 90,770 jobs in West Palm Beach are filled from a wide area. West Palm Beach’s own residents hold 11% and the ten next-biggest home towns 25%; the other 64% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from West Palm Beach are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 28 across Florida. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Florida worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
How West Palm Beach earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, West Palm Beach is better than 51% of U.S. towns, #333 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car holds West Palm Beach’s grade up (ahead of 87% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (14.1%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, West Palm Beach could be anywhere from C+ to B.
Who works in West Palm Beach, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 38,175 residents head out to work and 10,289 work right here.
About 169,000 people are in West Palm Beach on a workday afternoon, 33% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Who travels to work in West Palm Beach, and from where
Where West Palm Beach clocks in
5% of workers
5% 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.
About 23 minutes to work from West Palm Beach
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of West Palm Beach workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 53,424 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.
What West Palm Beach’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in West Palm Beach, 2014 → 2024: 72,146 → 90,770. 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 West Palm Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far West Palm Beach goes to work
About 19% 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.
West Palm Beach is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, West Palm Beach is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns, #94 of 638 in Florida. Both inputs place West Palm Beach near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 61,626 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 78% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 36% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 42% 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). 9.5% of West Palm Beach households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of West Palm Beach’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
199th of 316: where West Palm Beach ranks among U.S. towns of 89,000 to 172,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carmel IN | 105,634 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 22% | A+ |
| 2 | Clay Township IN | 104,932 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 22% | A+ |
| 3 | Franklin TN | 90,226 | $120K | 4.6% | 2.2% | 30% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 83 | Plantation FL | 99,183 | $93K | 10.0% | 4.0% | 10% | A− |
| 84 | Riverview FL | 113,697 | $100K | 7.5% | 4.3% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 90 | Miramar FL | 142,570 | $89K | 8.5% | 4.5% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 197 | Green Bay WI | 106,675 | $66K | 14.7% | 3.7% | 37% | B− |
| 198 | Danbury CT | 89,033 | $83K | 11.7% | 6.5% | 29% | B− |
| 199 | West Palm Beach FL | 127,189 | $73K | 14.1% | 5.1% | 21% | B− |
| 200 | Ogden UT | 89,510 | $73K | 13.7% | 4.1% | 34% | B− |
| 201 | Bremen Township IL | 104,303 | $79K | 12.6% | 7.6% | 9% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 316 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 52% | 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 West Palm Beach, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Work next door: 14% of West Palm Beach’s workers
The biggest share goes to Palm Beach Gardens (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | West Palm Beach workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Palm Beach | – | B− | A | 23 min | $73,446 |
| Riviera Beach | 4% | C | A | 25 min | $68,060 |
| Palm Beach Gardens | 5% | A− | B+ | 23 min | $106,947 |
| Mangonia Park | under 2% | C+ | A+ | 24 min | $60,781 |
| Palm Beach | 5% | A− | A+ | 24 min | $168,403 |
| Lake Clarke Shores | under 2% | A− | B | 24 min | $156,696 |
| Lake Worth Beach | under 2% | C | A | 27 min | $61,200 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of West Palm 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 West Palm Beach: questions
What is the median household income in West Palm Beach?
$73,446 (±$2,790) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in West Palm Beach?
14.1%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from West Palm Beach?
23 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in West Palm Beach work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Palm Beach Gardens (5%, 8 mi), Palm Beach (5%, 6 mi), Palm Springs (5%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is West Palm Beach walkable?
West Palm Beach is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.7 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around West Palm Beach without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 36% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from West Palm Beach, from the people who make the trip.
More of West Palm 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.