Guide to Panama City Beach & Bay County

Panama City Beach, "The World's Most Beautiful Beach" is located in Bay County Florida in the Florida Panhandle on the Gulf of Mexico. The county is 36 miles wide and 44 miles long and has 27 miles of sugar white sand -- for which it is very well known. Bay County has a population of approximately 150,00 and a median household income of about $31,000. The median sales price of a home in Bay County is approximately $85,000 and an overall modest cost of living. The weather is very mild with an average water temperature of 70 degrees and an average air temperature of 74 degrees. The area offers a truly wonderful living environment with a variety of tastes and lifestyles.

Tourism is one of the major industries of the area with over 4,000,000 annual overnight visitors and an estimated 20,000 motel/condo units. The "tourist season" generally runs from Memorial Day through Labor Day but is expanding to include Spring Break in March/April and our northern visitors from Canada in the winter. In addition to this, some of the major employers throughout the area include: Tyndall Air Force Base, Bay County School Board, Coastal Systems Station, Bay Medical Center, Hilton Enterprises, Sallie Mae, Columbia Gulf Coast Medical Center and Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation. Higher education is available through Gulf Coast Community College and the Panama City Campus of Florida State University. Attractions and recreational things to do include: charter fishing expeditions, amusement and water parks, sailing, surfing, parasailing, jet skiing, water skiing, snorkeling, a zoo and marine park, boat excursions with encounters with dolphins, movie complexes and numerous night clubs and family entertainment facilities. Panama City Beach has numerous award winning restaurants encompassing all the cuisines from fresh seafood caught daily in the Gulf, to steaks and prime rib, to continental and national dishes of dozens of countries. The Florida Restaurant Association has estimated that Bay County has one restaurant for every 284 people.