The West Palm Beach-Fort Pierce-Vero Beach region ranked #31 as one of Florida's Smartest Regions according to The Daily Beast Web site, an internet-only news outlet. Results were based on a nationwide survey of the 55 mosted populated metros. Rankings were determined by the number of residents with bachelor's degrees and graduate degrees according to the U.S. Census; political engagement; available institutions of higher learning; and nonfiction book sales, as tracked by Nielsen BookScan. (TCPalm.com, October 2009)
Boynton Beach's The Links named Florida's best municipal golf course according to Golf Digest. The criteria was a combination of the magazine's Best Places to Play and Best in State rankings. The Links has earned 4.5 star ratings in Best Places to Play over 3 consecutive listings with an emphasis on pace of play, value, service and course condition. The Links also earned a 4.5 star rating on the municipal-course list. (Palm Beach Post, July 2009)
Palm Beach County high schools ranked among top 100 in nation according to Newsweek. The schools listed were Suncoast at 7, Dreyfoos at 50, Atlantic and 52 and Boca at 83. The Newsweek list ranks schools based on a Challenge Index where the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2008 are divided by the number of graduating seniors. (Palm Beach Post, June 2009)
In Palm Beach County, Bak Middle and Waters Edge Elementary were named among the country's 320 No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools for 2008. The No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools program honors both public and private schools from elementary through highschool who either show academic superiority or demonstrate a dramatic gain in student achievement to high levels. Both Bak Middle and Waters Edge will receive a plaque and a flag signifying their status and these schools will serve as models for other schools in the nation. (Palm Beach Post, September 2008)
According to Inc. Magazine, Palm Beach County is home to 20 of the fastest growing privately-held companies for this year's Inc. 500/5000 rankings. Inc. Magazine announced 5 Palm Beach County based companies on this year's Inc. 500 and 15 Palm Beach County based companies on this year's Inc. 5000. (Inc. Magazine, August 2008)
In Palm Beach County, Royal Palm Beach ranked #9 according to Family Circle magazine's annual Top 10 list of "Best Towns for Families". Family Circle magazine announced Royal Palm Beach on its list of the top 10 best towns in the United States for families to live and raise kids. The nationwide survey included 1,850 communities with populations between 15,000 and 150,000.(Family Circle Magazine, August 2008)
Three Palm Beach County high schools have made Newsweek magazine's Top 100 list for 3rd year in a row. Newsweek magazine listed three Palm Beach County schools on its annual list of the best 1,300 schools in the nation. Of the 1,300 schools listed, Suncoast Community in Riviera Beach ranked No. 3, Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach ranked No. 33 and Atlantic Comunity in Delray Beach ranked No. 57. (Newsweek Magazine, May 2008)
Kauffman Index 2008: The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach metro, which is comprised of the Palm Beach County division, Ft. Lauderdale division and the Miami division, ranked No. 5 in the nation on the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity. The index measures business startup activity for the entire U.S. adult population at the individual owner level. For 2007 the index measured that 410 out of every 100,000 adults created a new business each month in the metro, based on a combined population of 5.5 million people. (Kauffman Foundation, April 2008)
South Florida has been designated a mega-region of the future and a driver of U.S. economic growth according to Richard Florida's new book "Who's Your City?". West Palm Beach in Palm Beach County was noted as an up-and-coming biotech and marine research center. Other noted strengths in the South Florida region include a considerable capability in arts and entertainment technology and its status as a gateway for Latin American banking and investments. (BNET Today, March 2008)
Palm Beach County is ranked #3 as the next "Up-and-Coming Tech City". According to Forbes.com, Palm Beach County is becoming the new haven for cutting-edge biotech and life science research. The county ranked #3 in the nation according to Forbes 2008 small business outlook. (Forbes.com, March 2008)
Palm Beach County is home to America's #1 Most Admired Company in the Electric & Gas Utilities Industry according to Fortune Magazine. FPL Group, located in Juno Beach, ranked #1 in its respective industry group catagory as one of America's Most Admired Companies. These annual rankings are determined bya survey of industry peers and are based on qualities such as innovation, social responsibility, financial soundness, quality of products/service, and use of corporate assets. (Fortune Magazine, March 2008)
South Florida No. 1 nationally in self-employment. According to a study by the Kauffman Foundation, four of the five metropolitan areas nationally with the highest self-employment are in Florida, with the top three, stretching from Palm Beach County to Miami-Dade County, in South Florida. (Sun-Sentinel, February 2008)
South Florida is home to at least 1,183 multinational companies from 56 nations that collectively manage more than $202 billion in revenue, according to a study released Wednesday by WorldCity Business Magazine. The study is the most thorough survey of South Florida's ''submerged'' multinational economy -- a sector often overshadowed by the glitzy tourism and real estate markets. The study found 41 of South Florida's multinationals are billion-dollar companies---- five are in Palm Beach County. (World City Business Magazine, January 2008)
Palm Beach County is the 5th largest school district in Florida and the 11th largest in the nation with over 168,546 students (K-12) during the 2007-2008 school year. The School District has earned an "A" rating from the Florida Department of Education for the second year in a row based on student performance on the FCAT and school grades are among the highest in the state with 104 schools earning A's, 20 schools earning B's and 24 schools earning C's.
2007 - Palm Beach County Awarded "AAA+" bond rating by all three rating services: Moody's Investors Services, Fitch, and Standard & Poor's. The AAA rating puts Palm Beach County in a select group (44 counties out of 3,066 nationwide), and is the only county in the state of Florida to which Fitch has assigned an "AAA" rating. The "AAA" rating reflects Palm Beach County's vibrant and diversifying economic base, sound financial position and moderate debt levels.
According to Inc. Magazine's 2007 list of the 5,000 fastest growing private companies in America, Palm Beach County has 30 companies listed of which 48% reside in Boca Raton. The Inc. 5,000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2003 through 2006. Additionally, they had to be U.S.-based, privately held, and independent--not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies--as of December 31, 2006. (Inc. Magazine, 2007)
In Palm Beach County, Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach ranked No. 25 and Suncoast Community High School in Riveria Beach ranked No. 51 out of 100, according to the first ever ranking of America's Best High Schools by U.S. World and News Report. The ranking measures the schools on how well they prepare students to achieve their post-graduation goals. Earlier this year, Newsweek magazine's Top 100 high schools in the country listed Suncoast at No. 5 and Dreyfoos at No. 19. (U.S. World and News Report, November 2007, Sun-Sentinel, December 2007)
2007 LOGISTICS QUOTIENT TM: America's Most Logistics-Friendly Cities As in years past, the study takes a look at the 362 metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) established by the Office of Management and Budget and compares them according to 10 major categories. A standard feature of Expansion Management's various annual metro "Quotient" studies is the awarding of the "5-Star" designation to the top 20 percent of the MSAs. Metros that earn this distinction can rightfully consider themselves to be among the elite logistics cities. Among those to receive the 5-star award included the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach metro, which is comprised of the Palm Beach County division, Ft. Lauderdale division and the Miami division. (Expansion Management, October 2007)
Best Performing Cities: Where America's Jobs Are Created and Sustained September 2007, Milken Institute's 2007 Best Performing Cities Index. The index ranks U.S. metros based on their ability to create and sustain jobs. It includes both long-term (five years) and short-term (one year) measurements of employment and salary growth. Among the Top 200 Largest Metros, the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton Metropolitan Division ranked at #36 overall and #13 for 1 yr wages and salaries growth.
America's Top Markets The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach metro, which includes Palm Beach County, ranked No. 3 on the list. On the 10 best markets' list for small business, the metro ranked No. 1 with the highest ratio of small businesses per 100,000 residents, No. 5 with strongest growth of small businesses per 100,000 residents from 2000 to 2005, and No. 9 with seeing the largest growth in number of small businesses from 2000 to 2005. Two metros in Florida, have more than 3,000 small businesses per 100,000 residents. The Miami-Fort Lauderdale metro has a ratio of 3,161 and is the nation's highest concentration. (Bizjournals, July 2007)
The Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach ranked No. 17 out of 100 on the Washington Post's Challenge Index. The index, designed to measure a public school's efforts to challenge their students, is based in part on the number of Advance Placement, International Baccalaureate, or Cambridge tests given. (The Washington Post, July 2007)
Economy.com's Business Vitality Index The West Palm Beach-Boca Raton Metropolitan Division ranked No.10 in the state and No. 44 in the nation according to Economy.com's Business Vitality Index, index rates the overall economic vitality of a metro area by looking at a range of factors. The index rates the 379 U.S. metropolitan areas in three main areas: current economic conditions, prospective economic conditions and economic risk. Each area is subdivided further. Prospective economic conditions, for example, includes assessments of the cost of doing business, the cost of living, housing affordability and educational attainment. (Moody's Economy.com, June 2007)
Kauffman Index 2007: The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach metro, which is comprised of the Palm Beach County division, Ft. Lauderdale division and the Miami division, ranks No. 1 in the nation on the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity. The index measures business startup activity for the entire U.S. adult population at the individual owner level. For 2006 the index measured that 500 out of every 100,000 adults created a new business each month in the metro, based on a combined population of 5.4 million people. (BusinessWeek, May 2007)
Boomtowns ‘07
Palm Beach County is one of the nation's boomtowns according to Inc. Magazine, in a study that looks at job growth in 393 metros across the U.S. Strong job growth suggests that an economy is expanding--which means plenty of opportunity. What's more, the Small Business Administration estimates that as many as three-quarters of new jobs are created by small companies; as a result, regions showing strong job creation are likely to be hotbeds of entrepreneurial activity. (Inc. Magazine)
Palm Beach County ranked in at No. 4, Top 20 large cities with at least 450,000 jobs.
Hottest Industries: Business Services, Leisure, Transportation
-2007 Rank in Category: 6
-2007 Overall Rank: 40
-2006 Rank in Category: 4
-2006 Overall Rank: 31
-Growth in Nonfarm Jobs 2005-2006: 3.1%
-Growth in Nonfarm Jobs 2001-2006: 16%
(Inc. Magazine, May 2007)
By: Joel Kotkin, Rankings by Michael A. Shires
Best Places For Business And Careers
Where are the best places to jump-start a business or a career? Forbes Magazine ranks West Palm Beach #60 among the Top 200. Cost of doing Business, Job Growth and Educational Attainment were some of the criteria used to rank the metro's. West Palm Beach ranked #15 among the metros in job growth. (Forbes Magazine, April 05, 2007)
Worldwide ERC® and Primacy Relocation's "Best Cities for Relocating Families - 2007" ranked the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach Division No. 47 in the nation under the medium markets category. The ranking is based on traditional variables such as an area's cost of living, education, and climate, and more abstract factors such as arts and culture scene, diversity, number of physicians per capita, and more. (Worldwide ERC® and Primacy Relocation, May 2007)
Best Cities for Jobs
Forbes Magazine conducts it's annual ranking of the largest 100 metro areas in the U.S. for "best cities for jobs,". Forbes uses 5 variables: Unemployment rate, job growth, income growth, median household income, and cost of living. West Palm Beach-Boca Raton moves up this year with an overall rank of #16, also scoring a rank of #8 in job growth alone. (Forbes Magazine, Feb 16, 2007)
2007 America's 50 Hottest Cities: Perception is a Critical Factor in Attracting Expanding Companies. The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL, MSA, in which Palm Beach County is included, ranked No. 27 on Expansion Management's America's 50 Hottest Cities, a ranking of the best places to expand or relocate a business according to a poll of prominent corporate site location experts. (Expansion Management, February 2007)
Money Magazines Top 100 Rank-Great American Towns-Best Places to live 2006, Ranking at #30-Boca Raton, FL. Americans are flocking to places that offer big-city opportunities and amenities -- with a lot more green space and a lot less stress.
Palm Beach County ranks among the top 50, Hot Cities for Entrepreneurs in 2006. The West Palm Beach-Boca Raton metropolitan division ranked #43 based on Entrepreneur magazine and NPRC's Annual Hot Cities rankings of the nations best places to start and grow a business. (Entrepreneur, Sept 2006)
Best Places For Business And Careers
Where are the best places to jump-start a business or a career? Forbes Magazine ranks West Palm Beach-Boca Raton among the Top 200. Cost of doing Business, Job Growth and Educational Attainment were some of the criteria used to rank the metro's. Palm Beach ranked #10 among the metros in job growth. (Forbes Magazine, May 05, 2006)
2006 - Palm Beach County Awarded "AAA+" bond rating by all three rating services in 2005, Moody's Investors Services, Fitch and Standard & Poor's. The AAA rating puts Palm Beach County in a select group (37 counties nationwide), and is the only county in the state of Florida to which Fitch has assigned an "AAA" rating. The "AAA" rating reflects Palm Beach County's vibrant and diversifying economic base, sound financial position and moderate debt levels.
Where are the least and most expensive places to run a corporate administrative office in North America? The Boyd Company analyzed 52 North American cities which currently have large concentrations of corporate office employment. Some of the costs measured in the report: clerical and other labor, secretarial help and IT support, Class-A office lease rates, utilities and corporate travel expenses. Palm Beach County ranked #20 in the Lowest-Expense U.S. Cities for Corporate Offices ranking. (Expansion Management, July 2005)
Headquarters Cities with Momentum, the 2005 Business Facilities magazine's annual ranking places West Palm Beach-Boca Raton MSA as the #2 hotspot for business headquarters. Each MSA rank is based on having a high number of headquarters and strong headquarters growth relative to its population.
Palm Beach County led the region and the state with 2,369 patents from 2000 to 2005. Patents are perhaps the single best way to measure the commercialization of knowledge. They indicate a region's R&D or product development capacity. According to the U.S. Patent Office, there were nearly 18,000 patents filed in the State of Florida from 2000 to 2005. The Southeast Florida Region reported 7,051 patents in from 2000 to 2005. This accounted for about 40% of the state's total patent activity over the same time period. Other state leaders in the region include Broward County with 2,241 patents, and Miami-Dade County with 1,870 patents.
Palm Beach County among U.S. most creative, author Richard Florida says. Cities are rated based on factors such as their numbers of 'creative' workers and cultural diversity. (Palm Beach Post, April 2005).
Palm Beach County School-Dreyfoos School of the Arts ranks #20 nationally on the "Jay Mathew Challenge Index" - a ratio calculated by the number of Advanced Placement and/or International Baccalaureate tests taken by all students at a school in 2004 divided by the number of graduating seniors. (Washington Post, May 2005)
From 2003 to 2004 patents issued to Florida's university system are up seven percent, according to a survey of Florida universities by Florida State University. The survey looked at Florida universities invention disclosures, licenses, and patents issued by 12 Florida universities and their economic impact. Palm Beach County's Florida Atlantic University were among those surveyed. (The Business Journal of Jacksonville, April 2005)
Intel ranks eight Florida cities/MSAs among the top 100 with the greatest wireless Internet accessibility. Florida's "Most Unwired Cities" include West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Jacksonville, Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Melbourne-Titusville-Palm Bay, Sarasota-Bradenton, and Daytona Beach. The survey is based on the number of public and commercial wireless access points (hotspots), local wireless networks, wireless email devices and Internet penetration. (Intel's Most Unwired Cities Survey, June 2005)
Best Performing Cities: Where America's Jobs Are Created and Sustained
November 2005, Milken Institute's 2005 Best Performing Cities Index. The index ranks U.S. metros based on their ability to create and sustain jobs. It includes both long-term (five years) and short-term (one year) measurements of employment and salary growth. Among the Top 200 Largest Cities the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton Metropolitan Division ranked at #27.
Palm Beach County is cheaper place to run a biotechnology company than most U.S. cities that have major centers of bioscience research. That's according to The Boyd Co., a Princeton, N.J., consulting firm that released a study on the cost of running a biotech business with 75,000 square feet of laboratory space and 100 employees in the top 50 biotech markets in the country. With the building of a Florida laboratory to accommodate The Scripps Research Institute and the biotech business expected to follow, Palm Beach County is considered one of the country's emerging centers for new biotech investment. Companies are also drawn to this area because they are looking for a competitive edge in recruiting top scientists and the lack of a personal income tax is an important factor. (Palm Beach Post, November 2004)
Visa's 'Innovation Index' Identifies USA's Most Innovative Markets
Rounding out the Top 10 on the Innovation Index were San Diego, Indianapolis, Salt Lake City, West Palm Beach, and Cincinnati.
(San Fransisco, October 11, 2004)
Palm Beach County ranks #4 among the Best Metros in the 2004 Annual Mayor's Challenge.
Population > 2 million: Tampa-St. Pete-Clearwater (#9)
Population = 1-2 million: West Palm Beach-Boca Raton (#4)
Population = 250,000-1 million: Tallahassee (#6)
The data was compiled from 6 major research studies that evaluated and compared 331 MSAs on the following categories: public education, college-educated work force, health care costs and availability, quality of life, logistics, infrastructure, government taxes and spending.
(Expansion Management, July 2004)
Palm Beach County has some of the best high schools in the United States, according to a national business magazine. The West Palm Beach-Boca Raton area ranks 3rd among the 65 largest metropolitan areas in quality of schools, according to Expansion Management magazine. (Expansion Management, April 2004)
