Writer: Gabriela Enamorado
2 min read February 2023 — Palm Beach County has experienced immense growth in recent years due to its business-friendly reputation and year-long warm weather, making it one of the most expensive counties to live in throughout the state. Local leaders are working to change that.
The cost of living in Palm Beach County is 96% higher than the rest of Florida, according to real estate brokerage Uphomes. The average annual income for Palm Beach County residents is $160,000 with the average rent at $2,163, compared to the national averages — $54,132 and $1,169, respectively.
The Palm Beach area is known for its more affluent residents, but leaders want to make sure Palm Beach County still has affordable housing options to keep Palm Beach County more accessible.
“Housing shortages and lack of affordable housing is a prominent issue for all municipalities right now. Our city has been concerned about this issue for many years and we have made the creation of affordable and workforce housing a real focus,” explained Shelly Petrolia, Mayor of Delray Beach, in an earlier interview with Invest:. “Unfortunately, many new developments are not factoring in enough affordable housing. Our city also tries to address this issue through our Community Redevelopment Agency by purchasing land within the community and turning that over to a developer who will in turn build a certain number of affordable homes. Our hope is to bring more affordable units to our community,” she added.
Joan Oliva, executive director of the Lake Worth Beach Community Redevelopment Agency, told Invest: that their focus has shifted from commercial development to affordable housing as they see that is a pressing need in the area. Oliva said in a separate interview that grants and partnerships were a necessary part of the affordable housing answer.
“We have great partners that we work with like Habitat for Humanity, Adopt-a-Family, Housing Leadership Council, the Community Land Trust and Neighborhood Renaissance. We’re hoping in the next few years to create at least a couple hundred more units that are attainable for our workforce and families. We are also looking at a buy-down program that would allow the CRA to partner with private development. Our goal is to help provide mixed-income, mixed-use developments that are close to job centers and mass transit,” Oliva added.
Palm Beach County residents have been active in addressing the need for affordable housing, with voters passing a referendum back in November 2022 to create 20,000 workforce and affordable housing units over a 10-year period through a $200 million bond program. Instead of looking at sales tax increases, the bond will tax current property owners $4.36 per $100,000 of the property value. District 7 County Commissioner Mack Bernard noted workforce housing is for people who make more than $54,000 and up to $120,000. The housing bond is considered the first step to the county’s 10-year Smart Housing Plan.
“We have a net shortage of about 20,000 units based on a study that was done in the past year,” said Michele Jacobs, the president and CEO of the Economic Council of Palm Beach County, as cited by WPBF. “It identified between 2010 and 2019 how many units we should have had and how many we currently have.”
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