Households and Families — Palm Bay, Florida

Palm Bay has about 45,850 households in the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 American Community Survey, up from 39,482 occupied homes counted in Palm Bay in the 2010 census.

Between the two full counts the number of occupied Palm Bay homes grew by 6,317, from 39,482 in 2010 (2010 Census H3) to 45,799 in 2020 (2020 Census H3), a rise of 16.0 percent (6,317 divided by 39,482). Vacancy fell over the same decade in Palm Bay, from 5,738 vacant units in 2010 to 3,279 in 2020, while the total number of units rose from 45,220 to 49,078.

The 45,850 figure is the survey count used for every breakdown on this page (ACS S1101, Palm Bay). It is an average across the five survey years 2020 to 2024, so it sits close to the 2020 census and below newer local estimates. The City of Palm Bay's economic development profile, which cites ESRI data last updated in November 2023, lists 48,712 households (Discover Palm Bay). The two figures come from different methods and dates; both are shown here rather than reconciled.

Palm Bay's 45,850 households outnumber those of Melbourne, which has 37,041 households in the same survey (ACS S1101, Melbourne), and Brevard County as a whole has 257,695 (ACS S1101, Brevard County). By that arithmetic (45,850 divided by 257,695), Palm Bay holds about 17.8 percent of the county's households.

The average Palm Bay household holds 2.82 people, well above the 2.42 average for Brevard County and the 2.51 average for Florida in ACS 2020-2024 estimates.

Family households in Palm Bay average 3.34 people, against 3.02 in Brevard County and 3.08 statewide (S1101, Palm Bay; Brevard County; Florida). Melbourne, Palm Bay's neighbor in South Brevard, averages 2.24 people per household and 2.97 per family (S1101, Melbourne), so a Palm Bay household is on average more than half a person larger than a Melbourne one.

The table comes from table B11016 for Palm Bay. Two-person families are the single most common Palm Bay household, at 13,121, and 5,364 Palm Bay families have five or more members (3,205 plus 1,543 plus 616). Brevard County as a whole has 84,781 two-person families and 77,257 one-person households (B11016, Brevard County), so living alone is almost as common countywide as living in a two-person family, while in Palm Bay the one-person count of 11,151 trails two-person families by nearly 2,000.

Renters in Palm Bay live in larger households than owners, which runs against the county pattern. Palm Bay renter households average 2.99 people and owner households 2.77 (B25010, Palm Bay); in Brevard County the order is reversed, at 2.35 for renters and 2.45 for owners (B25010, Brevard County), and Florida renters average 2.45 against 2.53 for owners (B25010, Florida). Palm Bay's housing is mostly single-unit: 86.7 percent of Palm Bay households live in one-unit structures, compared with 74.4 percent countywide.

Married couples head 49.1 percent of Palm Bay households, about 22,512 homes, a slightly larger share than in Brevard County (48.3 percent) or Florida (46.7 percent).

The shares come from table DP02 for Palm Bay, Brevard County and Florida. Palm Bay's mix leans toward couples raising children: 7,692 Palm Bay married-couple households, 16.8 percent of the total, have their own children under 18 at home, against 13.9 percent across the county. Cohabiting couples are also more common in Palm Bay, at 4,155 households or 9.1 percent, and 1,780 of those couples have children under 18.

Single-parent homes form a smaller part of the Palm Bay picture. The DP02 table counts 2,591 Palm Bay households headed by a woman with no spouse or partner and with her own children under 18, 5.7 percent of the total, and 540 headed by a man in the same position, 1.2 percent. Of the 12,244 Palm Bay households in the female householder group, 5,893 are women living alone and 2,591 include her own children under 18.

Families make up 32,172 of Palm Bay's 45,850 households, and the other 13,678 are nonfamily households such as people living alone or unrelated housemates (S1101, Palm Bay). The 2020 census, using a different method, counted 31,864 Palm Bay family households out of 45,799 (2020 Census P16), so the family share has stayed near 70 percent.

About one Palm Bay household in three (32.1 percent, or 14,719 homes) includes at least one person under 18, compared with 23.2 percent of households in Brevard County and 26.5 percent in Florida.

The child share is the clearest difference between Palm Bay and the rest of the county. Of the 12,603 Palm Bay households with the householder's own children under 18, 61.4 percent have only school-age children (6 to 17) and 19.0 percent have only children under 6 (S1101, Palm Bay). Melbourne's share of households with anyone under 18 is 22.1 percent (S1101, Melbourne), ten points below Palm Bay.

Older adults are present in a large share of Palm Bay homes too, though less than countywide. 37.7 percent of Palm Bay households, 17,275 in all, include someone 65 or older, against 41.5 percent in Brevard County and 37.8 percent statewide (DP02, Palm Bay; Brevard County). Counting from age 60, the Palm Bay share rises to 48.4 percent of households.

Grandparents raising grandchildren are a measurable group in Palm Bay. The survey counts 4,236 Palm Bay grandparents living with their own grandchildren under 18, and 1,379 of them, 32.6 percent, are responsible for those grandchildren (DP02, Palm Bay). The responsible share is 31.7 percent in Brevard County and 27.8 percent in Florida (DP02, Florida). Of the 1,379 Palm Bay grandparents in that role, 62.1 percent are women.

Extended households add to Palm Bay's average size. Of the 129,183 people living in Palm Bay households, 12,195 (9.4 percent) are relatives other than a spouse or child of the householder, such as parents, siblings or grandchildren, and 3,887 (3.0 percent) are unrelated housemates (DP02, Palm Bay).

About 24.3 percent of Palm Bay householders live alone, roughly 11,151 people, a lower share than in Brevard County (30.0 percent), Florida (28.3 percent) or Melbourne (36.7 percent).

Living alone at older ages is less common in Palm Bay as well. 12.0 percent of Palm Bay households are a person 65 or older living alone, against 15.3 percent in Brevard County and 17.6 percent in Melbourne (S1101, Palm Bay; Brevard County; Melbourne). Women make up the larger part of that group in Palm Bay: the DP02 table counts 3,393 women and 2,127 men aged 65 and over living alone (DP02, Palm Bay).

The count of Palm Bay residents living alone has grown since the last census. The 2020 census recorded 10,692 Palm Bay householders living alone (2020 Census P16), and the 2020-2024 survey puts one-person nonfamily households at 11,151 (B11016, Palm Bay). The two numbers come from a full count and a sample survey, so the difference of 459 is a direction rather than a precise change.

Compared with Melbourne and Brevard County, Palm Bay households are larger, more often own their homes and more often include children, according to ACS 2020-2024 table S1101.

Each column links to its own S1101 table: Palm Bay, Melbourne, Brevard County and Florida. The Palm Bay figures match the city's housing: 79.7 percent of Palm Bay households own their home and 86.7 percent live in a one-unit building, while Melbourne has 40.3 percent renters and 31.8 percent of households in buildings of two or more units.

The city's own profile points to more growth. The City of Palm Bay's economic development profile notes three Interstate 95 exits, at Palm Bay Road, Malabar Road and St. Johns Heritage Parkway, and says the expansion of St. Johns Heritage Parkway provides a unique opportunity for growth and development (Discover Palm Bay). The same profile, which lists City Hall at 120 Malabar Road as its contact, describes the city's northeastern edge along the Indian River Lagoon. Later survey releases will show whether the 2.82 average holds as that growth arrives.

Last verified: October 12, 2026, on the U.S. Census Bureau data.census.gov tables and the City of Palm Bay website.