10 Florida Towns That Get Packed With Snowbirds Every Winter
In Longboat Key, seasonal residents outnumber the people who live there all year.
Floridians in towns like that feel the difference the moment fall hits.
Here are the Florida towns that get packed with snowbirds every winter.
1. Jupiter Island
The Town of Jupiter Island lists a permanent population of 820 and a seasonal population of approximately 2,000.
The town sits on a barrier island at the south end of Martin County, and its roughly 1,643 acres run along nine miles of ocean frontage.
2. Palm Beach
Palm Beach County planners estimate 6,537 seasonal residents in the Town of Palm Beach, on top of 9,245 residents in the 2020 Census.
That adds up to about 15,782 people in season.
The town was incorporated in 1911, after its founders learned that West Palm Beach was going to try to annex the island.
A winter visitor from Philadelphia, Gus Ganford, is credited with suggesting the name Palm Beach.
How Palm Beach County Counts Seasonal Residents
Palm Beach County’s seasonal estimates for the Palm Beach County towns on this list come from housing counts.
County planners multiply a town’s seasonal housing units by the average number of people in a household, using 2020 Census data.
That makes each figure an estimate for 2020, not a headcount taken on one winter day.
3. South Palm Beach
The Town of South Palm Beach was incorporated in 1955 with four single-family homes at its northern end.
The county’s 2020 table lists 1,471 residents and an estimated 1,116 seasonal residents, about 2,587 people in all.
The town covers about five-eighths of a mile along A1A.
4. Manalapan
Manalapan is a town of 419 residents in the 2020 Census, and the county estimates 317 seasonal residents on top of that, about three for every four counted.
Commodore Harold Vanderbilt incorporated the town in 1931, and its two sections touch only by water.
Only 4 percent of its land area is designated as club and commercial.
5. Briny Breezes
Briny Breezes began as a trailer park and became a town in 1963.
The 2020 Census counted 502 residents, and the county estimates 504 seasonal residents on top of them, about 1,006 people in all.
Same town, twice the neighbors.
A county history site says about 488 mobile homes there house mostly retirees, either seasonally or year-round.
Psst! How much do you know about winter wildlife and weather in Florida? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Winter Wildlife IQ
Answer nine questions on manatees, stone crabs, and the Everglades in winter. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
Blue Spring State Park says researchers tracked 14 manatees in its spring run in 1970. How many wintering manatees does the park report for 2023?
6. Gulf Stream
Gulf Stream covers 537 acres, and the town says none of its property is zoned for commercial or industrial use.
The county lists 954 residents from the 2020 Census and estimates 487 seasonal residents, about 1,441 in all, so roughly one in three people in town is a seasonal resident.
Australian pines were planted along A1A from Jacksonville to Miami, and the town says its stretch is the only one where the canopy remains.
7. Highland Beach
Twenty-one voting residents created the Town of Highland Beach in 1949 as a water district, after salt water intruded on the town's wells.
Add the county's estimated 2,375 seasonal residents to the 4,295 counted in the 2020 Census, and Highland Beach reaches about 6,670.
That's more than one seasonal resident for every two counted.
The town covers about half a square mile along a three-mile stretch of A1A between Delray Beach and Boca Raton.
8. Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea has 6,056 permanent residents, and the town says its peak seasonal population in the winter months is more than 10,000.
That's roughly five people for every three who live there permanently.
The town covers about 1.5 square miles, and it lists Anglin's Pier as one of four piers in Broward County.
The town also calls itself South Florida's Beach Diving Capital.
9. Redington Shores
About 38 percent of the housing units in Redington Shores, a Pinellas County town, are held for seasonal, recreational or occasional use.
The plan defines seasonal residents as people who live in town for only part of the year.
10. Longboat Key
In the town of Longboat Key, seasonal residents outnumber the full-time ones.
The town's planning data puts the figures at approximately 10,535 seasonal residents and 7,519 full-time residents in 2020, for a total of 18,054.
About 57 percent of the town's housing units are occupied by seasonal residents.
The town lies in two counties, Manatee to the north and Sarasota to the south.
Bigger Places, Smaller Shares
Palm Beach County's 2020 table gives Boca Raton the largest seasonal addition of any municipality, an estimated 11,384.
Boca Raton had 97,422 residents in the 2020 Census, so that addition is about 12 percent.
In Palm Beach, the 6,537 seasonal residents equal about 71 percent of the 9,245 residents counted.
Next come Jupiter, at an estimated 10,262, and West Palm Beach, at 8,692.
Delray Beach adds an estimated 8,612 seasonal residents to its 66,846 residents.
12 Things Northerners Get Wrong About Florida Winters
Tallahassee dropped to minus 2 degrees Fahrenheit in 1899, which may surprise anyone picturing year-round flip-flops.
That's one of the winter surprises waiting for Northerners.
12 Things Northerners Get Wrong About Florida Winters
9 Things That Change the Second You Move From New York to Florida
A moving truck from New York pulls into Florida, and the storms are only the start of the changes.
Some of what follows puts money back in your pocket, and a few things take it.
9 Things That Change the Second You Move From New York to Florida
