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, is the most populous city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The city is also the oldest incorporated municipality in South Florida. West Palm's economy is currently ranked #4 in the Milken Institute Best Performing 296 U.S. Cities index. It is the county seat of Palm Beach County, and one of the principal cities in the South Florida metropolitan area, which has an estimated 2007 population of 5,413,212. The area is known as the West Palm Beach--Boca Raton--Boynton Beach Metropolitan Division, which covers the entire Palm Beach County area. It is situated in the northernmost county of the South Florida metropolitan area.
As of 2006, there were 107,617 people, 34,769 households, and 18,253 families residing in the city. The population density was 574.9/km² (1,488.9/mi²). There were 40,461 housing units at an average density of 283.3/km² (733.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 54.09% White (of which 36% were Non-Hispanic Whites,) 36.21% African American, 0.33% Native American, 1.46% Asian, 0.16% Pacific Islander, 4.35% from other races, and 3.40% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 18.21% of the population.
There were 34,769 households out of which 22.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.3% were married couples living together, 13.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.5% were non-families. 37.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 3.02.
In the city, 21.3% of the population is under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 16.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 97.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $36,774, and the median income for a family was $42,074. Males had a median income of $30,221 versus $26,473 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,188. About 20.5% of families and 23.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.2% of those under age 18 and 14.8% of those age 65 or over.
As of 2000, speakers of English as a first language accounted for 72.49% of all residents, while Spanish made up 17.71%, French Creole was at 4.46%, French consisted of 1.27%, German was at 0.62%, and Italian was the mother tongue of 0.52% of the population.
As of 2000, West Palm Beach had the sixty-fifth highest percentage of Cuban residents in the US, with 5.29% of the populace (tied with Cooper City.) It had the forty-third highest percentage of Haitian residents in the US, at 4.20% of the city's population (tied with Roosevelt, New York,) and the fifty-sixth highest percentage of Guatemalan residents in the US, at 2.24% of its population. There is a thriving Hispanic community just south of the Downtown area called