The Vanishing Workforce: How Housing Costs Are Reshaping Palm Beach County

For Maria Santos, the math stopped working three years ago. A dental hygienist with twelve years of experience, she had rented the same one-bedroom apartment in downtown West Palm Beach since 2019. Then the rent jumped from $1,400 to $2,200 in a single renewal cycle.

"I make $28 an hour," Santos said, sitting in a coffee shop in Palm Beach Gardens, ten miles north of her old apartment. "That sounds like good money until you realize you need three times that to qualify for a lease anywhere south of 45th Street."

Santos is not an outlier. She is part of a slow exodus reshaping the social geography of Palm Beach County — one that economists, urban planners, and social workers say threatens the very service economy that supports the region's $90 billion tourism and healthcare industries.

According to data compiled by the Palm Beach County Housing Authority, the median home sale price in the county reached $658,000 in March 2026, up 34 percent from 2023. Rental costs have followed a similar trajectory. The result is a widening affordability gap that is pushing essential workers — nurses, teachers, firefighters, restaurant staff — into northern Palm Beach County, Martin County, or across the state line into St. Lucie County.