Living in the "Sunshine State" is attractive and affordable. For employers, the appeal of a Bay County lifestyle is a big advantage when it comes to recruiting and retaining highly qualified employees. People like to work where they like to live.
Panama City area has a climate that is nearly ideal. The average annual temperature is 68.8 degrees. Average summer temperature is 81.9 and the average winter temperature is 53.2 degrees. Annual precipitation average is 57.86 inches. Snowfall is rare. Prevailing winds are southerly in summer and northerly in the winter.
Spiritual needs are met by over 150 churches, with most denominations represented.
Within the State of Florida, Bay County’s 1993 cost of living is ranked 37th among the state’s 67 counties, based on data from Florida County Comparisons released by the Florida Department of Commerce.
Location Price Index Rank Bay Co./Panama City 94.76 37 Broward/Ft. Lauderdle 104.73 65 Escambia/Pensacola 93.66 30 Hillsborough/Tampa 100.19 57 Leon/Tallahassee 96.55 47 Monroe/The Keys 113.87 67 Orange/Orlando 101.35 60 Alachua/Gainesville 94.54 36
* 100 equals state average
As our community grows, so do our cultural opportunities. We are abundantly blessed with natural beauty from the glittering Gulf waters and white beaches to the oak-lined shore of St. Andrews Bay. In this setting the arts and humanities have flourished and enriched the lives of area residents.
Bay County is fortunate to have a strong beginning with groups such as the Music Association, Art Association, Friends of the Library, and Historical Society providing quality events of a cultural nature for many years. Building on the success of the past, these groups have been joined by many others in recent years. To list just a few: Ballet theatre of Northwest Florida, Kaleidoscope Theatre, Bay Arts Alliance, Gulf Cost College Symphony Orchestra, Northwest Florida Chapter of Florida Anthropological Society, Junior Museum of Bay County, Bay County Audubon Society, Panhandle Writer’s Guild, Spring Festival of the Arts, and several art galleries. Bay County also houses the Museum of Man in the Sea, the only deep water diving museum in the United States.
Total employment in Bay County in February, 1994 reached approximately 55,788. Leading economic sectors based on relative employment levels include:
(1) government
(2) retail and wholesale trade
(3) services
(4) manufacturing
No discussion of Bay County’s economic base would be complete without special reference to the area’s two major military installations. Located in Bay County are Tyndall Air Force Base and the Coastal Systems Station.
Tyndall, located on a 2,900 acre reservation in southeastern Bay County, houses the 325 Fighter Wing, Headquarters 1st Air Force, Southeast Air Defense Sector, 475th Weapons Evaluation Group, and United States Air Force Civil Engineering Support Agency. Approximately 5,130 military and 1,739 civilian personnel are employed at Tyndall. The base also served 7,625 military retirees in Bay County. Total economic impact in the local area was $304.7 million in fiscal 1993.
The Coastal Systems Station, located on 665 acres along St. Andrews Bay, is a major research and development facility in support of naval operations that take place primarily in coastal regions, such as amphibious missions, swimmer operations, diving and salvage, and mine countermeasures. The Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center is headquartered at CSS. Some 1,302 military and 1,329 civilian personnel are based at CSS in various administrative, technical and support positions. The total economic impact of the Coastal Systems Station is $228.6 million annually.
Education Index
US Department of Education’s Directory of post-secondary institutions, public, private colleges and universities ranks Panama City 297 out of 343 metro areas ranked.
Drop out rate for Bay County is 2.96%
GATT Test:
56% in median
18% lower quartile
26% upper quartile
63.8% enter college or university
Average Manufacturing Wage
$13.65 for manufacturing industry (SIC codes 20-39) in Bay County, Panama City area.
Cost of Living Index
Panama City ranks 114 out of the nations 343 metro areas used for comparison.
Average Price Single-Family Home
Median cost of housing in Bay County, Panama City area is $61,600.
Building Cost/Square Footage
Median cost of commercial and industrial building to purchase or lease is $25.00 a square foot. Metal building - 20,000 square feet, $20 to $40 a square foot to build. Averaging $25 to $30 a square foot standard. 90 to 120 days for completion.
Land Cost/Square Footage
The median cost for commercial and industrial land available in Bay County is $25,000.
Education is a dominant factor in the make-up of Bay County, home of Gulf Coast Community College, the Florida State University Panama City Campus, Haney Vocational-Technical Center, a highly regarded public school system, and several private and parochial schools.
Gulf Coast Community College
Programs for over 10,000 students at Gulf Coast include two-year university transfer and career-oriented fields of study leading to 57 Associate in Arts and 30 Associate in Science Degrees. The School also offers one-year certificates in various areas of study, as well as a broad variety of non-credit offerings through its Office of Continuing Education.
Gulf Coast Community College and Florida State University (Panama City Campus) cooperate in a 2 + 2 program whereby, Gulf Coast Community College provides the first two years and Florida State University provides the last two years of undergraduate work leading to a Bachelors degree.
Florida State University
The Panama City Campus of Florida State University currently provides undergraduate degree programs to Bay area residents in 10 fields. Master degree offerings cover 11 different fields ranging from business, education, engineering, nursing to psychology, as well as 1 specialist program in education. Future degree offerings will be added as needs are determined by the community. Present enrollment is more than 1,000 students.
Bay County Public Schools
Bay District Public schools serve a population of more than 130,000 people within a geographic area of 758 square miles. The school district is the 21st largest in Florida with an enrollment in excess of 26,000 students. The school term usually begins in late August and ends in early June. A child must be 5 years of age by September 1st of the current school year to attend kindergarten. Enrollment requirements include legal proof of age, a physical exam, and a statement from a county health officer or licensed practicing physician stating that the child is free from any contagious or communicable diseases.
The school district student membership is 80 percent white non-Hispanic, 15 percent black, 1 percent Hispanic, 3 percent Asian, and less than 1 percent American Indian. 51 percent of the student population is male and 49 percent is female.
Area students attend 32 school centers throughout the county. These schools include 18 elementary, 6 middle schools, 4 senior high schools, 3 special purpose schools and 1 vocational-technical facility. While the age of school facilities varies, the district through its ongoing building program, constructs and updates facilities as the community’s growth patterns dictate.
The Bay County School Board employs over 3,224 people to operate the school district. This includes 1,651 instructional personnel in which 1,621 are certified, 1,435 support services employees and 138 administrative personnel.
All classroom teachers have Bachelor’s Degrees and over 33 percent of the instructional staff has also earned advanced degrees. The school system has received state-wide attention for it’s outstanding school volunteer program. In the 1993-94 school year, 5,707 volunteers contributed close to 200,000 hours in service to the county school system.
Through its participation in the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program the district’s food service personnel prepare and serve over 3 million student meals annually. The daily nutrition programs emphasize the establishment of correct eating habits. Bay County students are taught to "Eat to Learn and Learn to Eat". The Bay County School System was one of the first school districts in the state to provide breakfast in all public schools.
Transportation to and from schools is provided for all Bay County elementary students, who live at least 3/4 miles from their assigned schools and for middle and senior students who live 1 1/2 miles from their assigned schools.
The transportation department utilizes over 138 modern buses to transport approximately 14,000 students twice a day. The buses travel over 14,130 miles, making over 2,300 stops daily.
Higher education opportunities abound for Bay County’s public school students and area citizens. Through community involvement, planning and cooperation, a partnership of sharing among the school district, Gulf Coast Community College and Florida State University has evolved. This sharing arrangement provides area residents an affordable means to pursue professional and technical training through advanced degree programs while living at home.
All Bay District public schools are fully accredited by the Florida Department of Education and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Private Schools
Bay County has several private schools affiliated with religious organizations. Registration times and fees vary with each school. Tuition ranges from approximately $1,000 to $2,500 annually.
Student Testing - Teacher/Pupil Ratio
The Panama City metro area (Bay County) has traditionally been recognized for the quality of its public and private schools. Consistently, our students rank among the best in Florida in student achievement tests. Currently, we rank among the top of Florida’s sixty-seven counties.
1993-94 California Achievement Test
Bay County
Grade Total Battery
First Grade 65.1
Second Grade 70.4
Third Grade 67.1
Fourth Grade 64.2
Fifth Grade 65.4
Sixth Grade 54.5
Seventh Grade 55.5
Eighth Grade 60.7
Ninth Grade 59.9
Annual number of high school graduates: 1,105
Annual percent of high school graduates who seek higher levels of education is 70% and 5% plan to attend trade/technical schools.
1993 SAT scores Verbal Math 1993 Act Scores National SAT Scores: 423 478 20.3 District SAT Scores: 413 466 20.2 State SAT Scores: 427 490 21.5