Workforce — Palm Bay, Florida

About 63,365 Palm Bay residents aged 16 and over were in the labor force, 60.2 percent of the 105,171 people in that age group, in Census ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

The Palm Bay DP03 economic profile splits that labor force into 58,913 employed civilians, 3,808 unemployed people looking for work and 644 members of the Armed Forces. The remaining 39.8 percent of Palm Bay adults, 41,806 people, were outside the labor force, neither working nor looking for work.

Palm Bay works at a higher rate than its county. The Brevard County DP03 profile puts countywide participation at 56.7 percent, 3.5 points below Palm Bay, and among residents aged 35 to 44 the Palm Bay rate of 88.5 percent tops the county's 84.2 percent (S2301). The Florida DP03 profile gives 59.8 percent statewide, close to the Palm Bay figure.

Palm Bay's unemployment rate was 6.1 percent in Census ACS 2020-2024 estimates, above the 4.8 percent rate for both Brevard County and Florida.

The Palm Bay S2301 employment status table carries a margin of error of 1.1 points on that rate, so the gap with the county is real but its exact size is uncertain. For the core working ages of 20 to 64, the Palm Bay rate is 5.5 percent, against 4.6 percent in the Brevard County S2301 table and 4.5 percent in the Florida S2301 table. The ACS figure pools five years of survey responses, 2020 through 2024.

Teenagers carry the highest rate in Palm Bay: 26.2 percent of 16 to 19 year olds in the labor force were unemployed, compared with 15.5 percent countywide. By schooling, Palm Bay adults aged 25 to 64 with only a high school diploma had a 7.5 percent unemployment rate, against 4.7 percent for those with a bachelor's degree or higher (S2301).

For a current monthly reading, the BLS Economy at a Glance page for the Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville metro area reported a preliminary unemployment rate of 4.8 percent for August 2026, not seasonally adjusted. That metro rate covers all of Brevard County, which makes up the metro area according to the BLS metro definition, and is not published for the City of Palm Bay alone on that page.

Participation in Palm Bay peaks at 88.5 percent among residents aged 35 to 44 and falls to 24.2 percent among those 65 to 74, in ACS 2020-2024 estimates.

Among Palm Bay residents aged 20 to 64, 81.4 percent of men and 71.6 percent of women were in the labor force (S2301). Women with children under 18 were more likely to be working or looking for work, at 77.9 percent, than Palm Bay women overall. The DP03 profile also shows that for 5,886 of the 7,954 Palm Bay children under 6 living with a parent, every parent in the family was in the labor force.

Disability and poverty mark the largest gaps in Palm Bay. Adults aged 20 to 64 with a disability had a participation rate of 32.6 percent, and those below the poverty line 39.3 percent, against 80.6 percent for Palm Bay residents at or above the poverty level (S2301).

Management, business, science and arts occupations employ 37.0 percent of working Palm Bay residents, the largest group, but a smaller share than the 44.0 percent countywide (ACS 2020-2024).

Palm Bay leans toward hands-on work compared with Brevard County. Natural resources, construction and maintenance occupations take 10.3 percent of employed Palm Bay residents against 8.2 percent in the county and 9.0 percent statewide, and production, transportation and material moving 11.4 percent against 10.4 percent in the county. Sales and office jobs account for 23.3 percent and service jobs 17.9 percent (DP03).

Most working Palm Bay residents draw a paycheck from a private employer: 82.7 percent are private wage and salary workers, 11.1 percent work for a government and 6.0 percent are self-employed in an unincorporated business (DP03). The City of Palm Bay community profile names engineering and defense as the top local industries, and lists L3Harris, Renesas Electronics and Raytheon Technologies among its major employers.

Educational services, health care and social assistance employ the most Palm Bay residents, 23.7 percent, and manufacturing employs 12.0 percent, more than double the Florida share of 5.3 percent.

Manufacturing is where Palm Bay and Brevard County part from the rest of Florida. The county share is 12.4 percent, close to Palm Bay's, and the City of Palm Bay lists engineering and defense among its top industries in its profile. Construction employs 9.3 percent of Palm Bay workers, above the 7.2 percent county share. Public administration employs 3.5 percent of Palm Bay residents against 5.2 percent countywide (DP03).

The city's own profile, built on ESRI data last updated in November 2023, counts 2,966 businesses with 21,300 employees inside Palm Bay and a daytime population of 93,206 (the Discover Palm Bay page). That count of jobs inside the city is far smaller than the 58,913 employed residents in the Census count, though the two sources use different methods and years.

The Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville metro area had about 305,600 people in its labor force and 259,700 nonfarm jobs in August 2026, both preliminary BLS figures.

Manufacturing and education and health services lead the growth on the BLS Economy at a Glance page: the Palm Bay metro area had 36,700 manufacturing jobs in August 2026, up 3.1 percent over 12 months, while total nonfarm jobs rose 0.5 percent. Education and health services added 4.3 percent to reach 41,600 jobs. Mining, logging and construction fell 3.5 percent to 16,500, and financial activities fell 3.2 percent to 9,000.

These monthly metro figures cover all of Brevard County, while the Census tables above count Palm Bay residents only. The next ACS 5-year release will update the Palm Bay resident figures, while the BLS metro series for Palm Bay and the rest of Brevard County updates every month.

Palm Bay adults aged 25 to 64 with a bachelor's degree or higher take part in the labor force at 85.1 percent, against 52.8 percent for those who did not finish high school (ACS 2020-2024).

The Palm Bay S2301 table shows participation climbing with each step of schooling: 52.8 percent without a diploma, 70.8 percent with a high school diploma, 80.2 percent with some college or an associate degree and 85.1 percent with a bachelor's degree or more. Across all Palm Bay residents aged 25 to 64, the rate is 76.4 percent.

The local route up that ladder runs through Palm Bay itself. The City of Palm Bay economic development profile says Eastern Florida State College keeps a large presence in the city, with bachelor's programs that include nursing and teaching, and that Florida Tech runs a manufacturing and design accelerator in Palm Bay open to local companies. Employers with hiring plans can reach the city's Community and Economic Development staff at City Hall, 120 Malabar Road, who arrange pre-application meetings with permitting, utilities and fire staff.