Panama City-Panama City Beach, FL

Metro Area Profile

211,922 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Panama City-Panama City Beach, FL metropolitan area.

57out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 25% of 379 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity213th of 379 published metros52
GrowthTop 11% of 821 published metros75
Housing affordability701st of 822 published metros73
ClimateTop 3% of 822 published metros82
Physical resilience802nd of 822 published metros9
AccessTop 8% of 822 published metros98
Economic stability461st of 822 published metros46
The quick read

Housing sits below most published city profiles for affordability: rent takes 24% of median household income and the median home is 4.1 times it — each just short of the thresholds that would count as strained, but both toward the costly end.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by hurricane, lightning and coastal flooding.

A major airport is 11 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
211,922
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$71,514
Top 37% nationally
Density
158/sq mi
1343.3 sq mi of land
Median age
41.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
Panama City-Panama City Beach, FL
Nearest major airport
ECP
11 mi · Northwest Florida Beaches Intl
Median home value
$294,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.6% is lower than 33% of the 379 measured US metros.

Employment fell 0.4% over the past year, to 100,172 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$1,839$71,514Top 37%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,187$39,174Top 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate12.5%Bottom 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute26.9 minTop 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher27.4%Top 42%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment100,172Bottom 45%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)1.2%Top 38%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.4%Top 42%June 2026
Labor force104,982Bottom 46%June 2026
Labor force participation61.5%Top 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$57,610Bottom 30%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$45,030Bottom 21%2025 OEWS
Metro employment90,610Bottom 44%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.7%Top 16%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.6%Top 33%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/064.92.5
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.6% in June 2026. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.
Largest occupations — Panama City-Panama City Beach, FL
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons3,490$32,290
Fast Food and Counter Workers3,030$28,050
Cashiers2,580$29,080
Waiters and Waitresses2,520$34,990
General and Operations Managers2,080$86,070
Office Clerks, General1,760$42,840

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,456 takes 24% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.1 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
24.4%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.1×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,456
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$294,300
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income4.12Top 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate68.2%Bottom 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±101119,406Top 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$36$1,456Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$7,011$294,300Top 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income24.4%Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate26.2%Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
75/ 100
Top 11% of 821 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2024 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 13% since 2020, reaching 226,221 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 11% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 10.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
2,126
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
10.0
Top 5% nationally
Year over year
−13%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
11.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024226k200k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.

Weather & climate

8 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 91°F and January a low of 45°F.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station PANAMA CITY BAY CO AP, 4.9 miles from this location.
Precipitation
MetricValueSource period
Average January low45°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months81991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing29°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

9 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, lightning and coastal flooding.

HurricaneHigh
LightningModerate
Coastal floodingModerate

Low or minimal exposure: tornado, heat wave, cold wave, wildfire, inland flooding, strong wind, earthquake, landslide, winter weather, drought, hail.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 11 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Northwest Florida Beaches IntlECP11 mi10,000 ft
Bob SikesCEW63 mi8,006 ft
Dothan RgnlDHN73 mi8,500 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
57
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.