Malabar census profile — Malabar, Florida

About 3,100 people live in the Town of Malabar: the Census Bureau's ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimate is 3,066, and the 2020 Census counted 2,949 residents.

The 2020 Census table P1 for Malabar town recorded 2,949 people on April 1, 2020. The 2010 count was 2,757 and the Census 2000 count was 2,622, so Malabar added 135 residents in the first decade (2,757 minus 2,622, about 5.1 percent) and 192 in the second (2,949 minus 2,757, about 7.0 percent). The survey estimate of 3,066 in the Malabar DP05 profile has a margin of error of 17, far tighter than most other Malabar survey figures on this page.

Malabar is spread thin. The Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer place file lists Malabar town with 10.711 square miles of land and 2.572 square miles of water, so the 2020 count works out to about 275 residents per square mile (2,949 divided by 10.711). The Town of Malabar Comprehensive Plan places the town in the southeast section of Brevard County, with its eastern border along the Indian River Lagoon, and the town government that serves its residents works from Town Hall, 2725 Malabar Road, according to the Town Clerk/Treasurer page.

Malabar's median age is 53.1 in the ACS 2020-2024 estimates, older than Brevard County's 46.7, yet the town has a smaller share of residents 65 and over than the county.

Residents 65 and over are 19.2 percent of Malabar in the Malabar DP05 table, against 24.5 percent in the Brevard County DP05 table and 21.3 percent in the Florida DP05 table. The age bulge sits just below retirement: people aged 60 to 64 make up 15.6 percent of Malabar, close to double the county share of 8.3 percent, and those 55 to 59 add another 9.8 percent. Children under 18 are 15.2 percent of Malabar residents, against 18.1 percent countywide.

Small samples matter here. The Malabar median age of 53.1 carries a margin of error of 8.2 years, so the true figure could plausibly fall anywhere from about 45 to 61. Malabar also has more men than women in the estimates, 52.2 percent male, while Brevard County as a whole is 49.3 percent male.

The median Malabar household earned $128,698 in the ACS 2020-2024 estimates (in 2024 dollars), about $50,000 more than the Brevard County median of $78,476.

The Malabar DP03 economic profile puts that median's margin of error at $46,983, wide enough that the honest reading is that Malabar's typical household income sits well above the county's rather than at an exact figure. The other income measures point the same way. Per capita income in Malabar is $62,511, compared with $44,108 in the Brevard County DP03 profile and $42,609 in the Florida DP03 profile. Median family income in Malabar is $146,125, and 24.8 percent of Malabar households report incomes of $200,000 or more, against 11.1 percent countywide.

Few Malabar residents live in poverty in the survey: 3.0 percent of people, with a margin of 3.0 points, against 10.2 percent of Brevard County and 12.6 percent of Florida. Social Security reaches 31.9 percent of Malabar households, against 42.0 percent countywide, and 35.9 percent of Malabar households draw retirement income.

Malabar is a town of married-couple households: 67.6 percent of its 1,215 households are married couples in the ACS 2020-2024 estimates, compared with 48.3 percent across Brevard County.

The Malabar DP02 social profile gives an average household size of 2.52 people, a little above the county's 2.42 in the Brevard County DP02 profile. A child under 18 lives in 26.7 percent of Malabar households. Only 4.9 percent of Malabar households are men living alone and 10.6 percent are women living alone, while those two groups together are 30.0 percent of households countywide.

Malabar adults are well educated by county standards: 40.1 percent of residents 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher, with a margin of 13.1 points, against 34.2 percent in Brevard County and 34.1 percent in the Florida DP02 profile, and 95.7 percent finished high school. Florida natives are 42.0 percent of Malabar residents, compared with 32.7 percent of the county, and 49.9 percent were born in another state. Civilian veterans are 9.2 percent of Malabar adults, below the Brevard County share of 12.6 percent. By origin, non-Hispanic white residents are 84.0 percent of Malabar in the DP05 table and Hispanic or Latino residents of any race 10.9 percent, a figure whose 11.1 point margin makes it a rough guide only.

Most Malabar adults work: 64.7 percent of residents 16 and over are in the labor force, compared with 56.7 percent in Brevard County and 59.8 percent in Florida.

Malabar workers spend an average of 25.9 minutes getting to work, about the county's 25.4 minutes, according to the Malabar DP03 profile. Of Malabar workers, 75.6 percent drive alone and 16.0 percent work from home. By industry, retail trade employs 24.4 percent of employed Malabar residents and manufacturing 15.0 percent, against 11.6 and 12.4 percent of the county's workers in the Brevard County DP03 profile, while construction accounts for only 4.0 percent in Malabar. Health insurance covers 87.3 percent of Malabar's civilian noninstitutionalized residents, a little below the county's 90.2 percent.

Malabar is smaller, older and higher-income than Palm Bay: its 3,066 residents compare with 130,132 in Palm Bay, and its median household income of $128,698 is far above Palm Bay's $72,614.

The Malabar Comprehensive Plan has the town coordinate development applications with the City of Palm Bay, which the Census Bureau lists as Palm Bay city, Census place 1254000, and the Palm Bay DP05 profile gives a median age of 41.0, twelve years younger than Malabar's 53.1. Children are a bigger part of Palm Bay, 22.1 percent of residents against 15.2 percent in Malabar, while the share 65 and over is almost the same in both, 19.0 percent in Palm Bay and 19.2 percent in Malabar.

Household life differs too. Palm Bay households average 2.82 people in the Palm Bay DP02 profile, more than Malabar's 2.52, yet married couples head 49.1 percent of Palm Bay households against 67.6 percent in Malabar. A bachelor's degree or higher is held by 24.0 percent of Palm Bay adults 25 and over, compared with 40.1 percent in Malabar. In the Palm Bay DP03 profile, per capita income is $34,813 and 11.7 percent of residents live below the poverty level; the Malabar figures are $62,511 and 3.0 percent. Palm Bay workers also travel a little longer, 27.8 minutes on average against 25.9 minutes for Malabar workers.

Compared with Brevard County, Malabar is older at the median, richer, more often married and almost entirely owner-occupied, while its population of about 3,066 is a small fraction of the county's 632,780.

The Malabar figures in this table come from the DP05, DP02 and DP03 profiles for Malabar town, Census place 1242625, which the Census Bureau names Malabar town, Florida. Housing, covered on a separate Digital Towns page on Malabar homes, is summed up by one number here: 98.8 percent of occupied homes in Malabar are owner-occupied in the same survey. Every Malabar percentage above is a five-year average for 2020 to 2024, not a single-year count.