North Bay Village - Who We Are

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Photo By Marc Averette 

Sometimes it's good to stop and take a look at what the data tell us about where we are and who we are.  Maybe because it's tax season and I have to review last year but I thought I would put out some interesting (to me) information about North Bay Village and to do that, I went to the US Census Figures for some information.  

First of all, their last population estimate for North Bay Village was 8,317 people crowded into an area less than half a square mile total.  (.37 of a mile square) making us the most densely populated city in Florida and the 13th most densely populated city in the US. 

Let's Talk About Numbers!

Foreign Born - 50% of us were born outside the United States and 67% of us speak a language other English at home.  

Above the Median Income - North Bay Village is better off than the county in general with Median Household Income of $55,308 compared to the county median of $46,338.

Our Poverty Rate Is Lower - 12.9% as opposed to 16.1% countywide.  

Low Homeownership - 67% of us are renters, as opposed to 52% countywide.   

The median home price is $271,600 and the median rent is $1,733. 

Rent Is Too Damn High - Median rent is $1713 as opposed to $1,195 countywide

We Are Young -  Only 9.8% are over 65, as opposed to 16% countywide.   

But 20% of us are under 18, as opposed to 16% countywide.   

We Work - 62% of us are in the workforce as opposed to the county at 70% (not surprising given how many kids live here)

We Are Well Educated - We are very well educated with 50% of the adults having a bachelor's degree or higher.  

We Drive - Of those in the workforce, only about 400 commute by public transit.  

We Don't Walk So Well - Among people under 65, we have a disability rate of 4.1%.   

We Move A Lot - 21% of us were living at another address the year before.

We Have a Low Crime Rate - According to Best Places, our violent crime rate is less than half the metro average and property crimes are a full third less.

We Have Veterans - 208 according to the census.

We Have A Visible LGBT Presence -About 1.6% of the households are headed by same sex couples.   According to the Pew Statistics, we hover around 6% of the adult population.  

Conclusions?

I don't have any strong ones.   It reinforces for me what I have always thought about the people who live and rent here.  They are people on their way up in the United States and in the community.  It's a good place to live.

I do worry about housing. 

The mean price for a condo or house means for the median earner in North Bay Village to buy a home, assuming they were saving at 10% per year for the down payment, it would take them nearly 10 years to save up the down payment.  (20% of $271,600 is $54,200, 10% savings rate on $55,308 is $5,530 per year)

So we have a housing gap. 

We hate our traffic but not enough to take the bus.   The Village should probably work on that.

We need to focus more on our young people.  We have a lot of them and even casual observers see this as a good place for kids.

Kevin Vericker
April 3, 2019