Why look at Palm Bay?
- Moderately priced housing. Median home is $304k.
- Stable market. Home values -3.5% year-over-year — neither overheated nor falling.
- No state income tax. Higher take-home pay than equivalent salary in a high-tax state.
Where Palm Bay stands
Home values down 3.5% in the last year. population growing 4.4% per year.
Home value trajectory · last 10 years
Zillow ZHVI · monthlyLifestyle scores
Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.
Rent trajectory · last 5 years
Zillow ZORI · monthlyHome value vs rent · indexed to 100
Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)Rent vs buy
At a 13.5 price-to-rent ratio, buying generally beats renting in Palm Bay on a long-enough horizon. The headline math is that one year of mortgage payments approximates 13.5 years of rent — well below the 15+ threshold where ownership starts to dominate.
How the momentum score breaks down
methodology →About Palm Bay (Wikipedia)
Palm Bay is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. The city's population was 119,760 at the 2020 United States census, up from 103,190 at the 2010 census, making it the most populous city in the county and the largest by land mass. The historic section of the city lies on the mouth of the Turkey Creek and the Palm Bay. Palm Bay has historically expanded south and to the west. The newer section is mostly situated west of Interstate 95 and south of the Tillman Canal.
Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.
City facts
Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.
Things to see in Palm Bay(Tourism)
- Tough Mudder
Extracted from the Wikipedia article. Names linked in the source — open the city’s Wikipedia page for details.
Local safety & alerts
No active National Weather Service alerts for Brevard County right now.
Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Brevard County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.
Run the numbers for Palm Bay
Florida context
Schools
Palm Bay is served by 20 public schools enrolling about 15,450 students, with a student-teacher ratio of 16.6:1 — about the same as the US average of ~15:1. Public-school facts are from the NCES Common Core of Data; check ratings and attendance boundaries by exact address below.
Ratings, districts & boundaries:
Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.
Climate & natural-disaster risk
State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.
Current weather
Find rentals & listings
Open current Palm Bay listings on the major real-estate sites.
Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.
Local news & community
Latest news in Palm Bay
1 from local press- Pirate grads honored at Palm Bay Magnet High commencement. See photosLOCALFlorida Today4d ago
- Firefighters battle more brush fires in Palm Bay's CompoundSpectrum News 131w ago
- Man accused of leaving a suitcase with a dead body in Palm Bay’s ‘Compound’ indicted for murderWKMG1w ago
- 19-year-old accused of killing registered sex offender in Brevard County murder caseWFTV1w ago
- 19-year-old indicted in Palm Bay suitcase murder, State Attorney's Office saysWESH1w ago
- Florida city ranked among top 20 most affordable places to buy a homeTallahassee Democrat22h ago
What locals are saying
Updated 2026-05-28 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Filtered for Palm Bay-specific coverage. Headlines link to original sources.
Local sports teams
Major professional teams the Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.
Local economy & environment
Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.
Find more cities like Palm Bay
Open the matchmaker pre-filled to match Palm Bay’s price band, region, and size — refine to taste.
Find more like Palm Bay →Cities similar to Palm Bay
Explore other places with comparable momentum or affordability.
Cost-of-ownership at the median
Snapshot assumes a $150k single earner buying at the median home. Your real numbers depend on bracket, deductions, school district, and HOA. Use the affordability calculator and net-pay calculator for your specific case.
Schools & crime context
School quality is district-by-district and varies dramatically within a city. Check GreatSchools or your state DOE rankings for specific schools before deciding. City-level school data coming soon.
Florida: 259 violent crimes per 100K residents (state avg, FBI UCR). Neighborhood-level rates can vary 10× within one city — research specific areas via CrimeGrade or local police data.
Compare to where you live now
Set your current city once and we’ll show the cost delta on every city profile.
Jobs & hiring
In Palm Bay, unemployment runs higher at 6.1%, and hiring momentum has been modest. The strongest local sectors are tech, skilled trades & manufacturing and hospitality & tourism.
Search current openings: