| Official Name: | Panama City Beach, Florida |
| Nickname: | PCB, Capital of Redneck Riviera, Crystal Sands, Spring Break Capital of The World |
| Settlement Type: | Town |
| Motto: | The World's Most Beautiful Beaches |
| Mapsize: | 250px |
| Pushpin Map: | Florida#USA |
| Pushpin Label Position: | top |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Florida##Location in the United States |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Bay |
| Leader Title1: | City Manager |
| Leader Name1: | Drew Whitman (Republican)(2021–Present) |
| Leader Title2: | Mayor |
| Leader Name2: | Stuart Tettemer (Republican) (2024-Present) |
| Established Title2: | Incorporated |
| Established Date2: | 1970 |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 50.57 |
| Area Land Km2: | 50.05 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.52 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 19.53 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 19.32 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.20 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 18094 |
| Population Density Km2: | 361.55 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 936.40 |
| Timezone: | Central (CST) |
| Utc Offset: | – 06:00 |
| Timezone Dst: | CDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | – 05:00 |
| Coordinates: | 30.1767°N -85.8056°W |
| Elevation M: | 3 |
| Elevation Ft: | 10 |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP |
| Postal Code: | 32401, 32407, 32408, 32413, 32417 |
| Area Code: | 850, 448 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 12-54725[2] |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 0308451[3] |
Panama City Beach is a resort town in Bay County, Florida, United States, on the Gulf of Mexico coast. It had a population of 18,094 at the 2020 census, up from 12,018 in 2010.[4] It is a principal city in the Panama City—Panama City Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Panama City Beach is often mistakenly referred to as "Panama City". Panama City Beach's slogan is "The World's Most Beautiful Beaches" due to the unique,[5] sugar-white sandy beaches of northwest Florida.
Panama City Beach is a popular vacation destination, especially among people in the Southern United States. The town is also a popular spring break destination, due to its beach and proximity to most of the Southern United States. The first two seasons of MTV's Floribama Shore were filmed in the town.
Panama City Beach has dangerous rip currents. Multiple people have drowned at Panama City Beach while struggling against rip currents.[6] Sea conditions are particularly dangerous during periods when lifeguards have put up double red flags, indicating active rip currents.[6] Drowning often occurs when people attempt to swim directly against a rip current.[7] By attempting to directly return to the beach, against the rip current, swimmers get tired-out in the process and drown.[7] Instead, swimmers caught in a rip current should relax, and swim parallel to the beach, until they are naturally carried out of the rip current.[7]
A construction boom in the early to mid-2000s changed the image of the area due to the older homes and motels being replaced with high-rise condominiums and more expansive homes. However, this is turning unobstructed, low-rise beach views and affordable waterfront property into rarities. At the peak of the real estate boom, many beachfront properties had quadrupled or more in value since 2000. In November 2006 CNN/Money named Panama City Beach the No. 1 real estate market in America for the next five years in.[8]
Beachfront property has sold for upwards of $60,000 per "front foot" (linear foot) at the top of the market. The downturn in the U.S. real estate market in 2007, combined with a surge of new condo construction, brought spiraling prices somewhat under control. With the real estate boom, Panama City Beach became a well known destination for spring break.[9]
Category 5 Hurricane Michael made landfall near Mexico Beach in Bay County on October 10, 2018, becoming one of the strongest and most-destructive hurricanes in American history as it destroyed a large part of the county, including many structures in Mexico Beach and Panama City.[10] [11] An EF-0 tornado did minor damage to the northwest part of Panama City Beach, Florida on February 15.
Panama City Beach is located at (30.207362, −85.851485).[12]
The city is located in the panhandle on the Gulf of Mexico. The main roads through the city are U.S. Route 98 and Florida State Road 30. US 98 runs from northwest to southeast just inland from the coast, leading east 10miles to Panama City and northwest 47miles to Destin. FL-30 runs along the coast from northwest to southeast as Front Beach Rd, leading east to Panama City and northwest 15miles to Rosemary Beach. There are approximately 9miles of shoreline in Panama City Beach fronting the Gulf of Mexico.
The city has a total area of 48.2km2— 47.6km2 is land and 0.6km2 (1.17%) is water.[13]
| White (NH) | 10,334 | 14,181 | 85.99% | 78.37% |
| Black or African American (NH) | 268 | 947 | 2.23% | 5.23% |
| Native American or Alaska Native (NH) | 64 | 74 | 0.53% | 0.41% |
| Asian (NH) | 326 | 556 | 2.71% | 3.07% |
| Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian (NH) | 6 | 15 | 0.05% | 0.08% |
| Some other race (NH) | 22 | 73 | 0.18% | 0.40% |
| Two or more races/Multiracial (NH) | 301 | 885 | 2.50% | 4.89% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 697 | 1,363 | 5.80% | 7.53% |
| Total | 12,018 | 18,094 | ||
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 18,094 people, 5,538 households, and 3,440 families residing in the city.[16]
As of the 2010 United States census, there were 12,018 people, 5,149 households, and 3,166 families residing in the city.[17]
In 2010, the population density was 653.2/mi2. There were 17,141 housing units at an average density of 931.6/mi2.[4]
In 2010, there were 5,149 households, out of which 21.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.9% were headed by married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.4% were non-families. 31.3% of all households were made up of individuals. 9.5% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22. The average family size was 2.76.[4]
In 2010, 18.0% of the population were under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 29.0% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.0 males.[4]
In the 2000 census, the median income for a household in the city was $41,198, and the median income for a family was $49,127. Males had a median income of $32,459 versus $22,358 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,734. About 2.2% of families and 5.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.9% of those under age 18 and 4.5% of those age 65 or over.
The City of Panama City Beach has a council–manager government. The Mayor sits as a Council member-at-large and presides over City council meetings. If the Mayor cannot preside over a City Council meeting, then the Vice Mayor is the presiding officer of the meeting until the Mayor returns to his seat.
The City Manager is responsible for the administration and the day-to-day operation of all of the municipal services and city departments. The City Manager also maintains intergovernmental relationships with federal, state, county and other local governments.
The primary law enforcement agency in the city is the Panama City Beach Police Department. Part of the city is in unincorporated Bay County and is under the jurisdiction of the Bay County Sheriff's Office.
Surfside Middle School serves as the main middle school and Arnold High School serves as the main high school for Panama City Beach.
Primary and secondary public education is provided by the Bay District Schools (BDS).
The Gulf Coast State College is located in Panama City, just across the Hathaway Bridge from Panama City Beach.
The Florida State University Panama City branch campus is also located in Panama City, just across the Hathaway Bridge from Panama City Beach.
The Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (ECP) provides commercial flights into the area. The airport serves private aircraft, domestic passenger flights, and freight/cargo flights. It is the first international airport to be constructed after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Other modes of transportation include scooters, which can be rented by the day, as well as taxi and shuttle companies, which are permitted by the local police.
Panama City Beach also has public bus transportation known as Bayway available hourly Monday through Saturday. The Bayway runs throughout the county giving its tourists and locals the resource they need to get around Bay County.
The city was home to the Panama City Beach Pirates, a fourth-division soccer team from 2007 to 2015.
It is also notable that World Championship Wrestling held their last WCW Nitro event in Panama City Beach.[18] [19] WCW was bought out by their rival competition WWF (now WWE).