Mexico Beach is a city in

Bay County, Florida Bay County is a county on the Emerald Coast in Northwest Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 175,216. Its county seat is Panama City. Bay County is included in the Panama City, Florida metropolitan area. History On February 1 ...

, United States. It is located southeast of

Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...

on the

Florida Panhandle The Florida panhandle (also known as West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida. It is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long, bordered by Alabama on the west and north, Georgia (U.S. state ...

. It is part of the Panama City-Panama City Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area in

North Florida North Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida comprising the northernmost part of the state. Along with South Florida and Central Florida, it is one of Florida's three most common "directional" regi ...

. The population was 916 at the 2020 census, down from 1,072 at the 2010 census. The community was extensively damaged by Hurricane Michael on October 10, 2018. The

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

(FEMA) declared the community "wiped out" in the aftermath of the hurricane's devastating impact. The city has rebuilt since that storm.

History

The City of Mexico Beach was founded in 1946 when

real estate development Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw Real Estate, land and the sale of developed land or parce ...

began, but officially incorporated as a municipality in 1967. Before Hurricane Michael, "the town was 'old Florida,' ... a collection of 50-year-old

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is typically single or one and a half storey, if a smaller upper storey exists it is frequently set in the roof and Roof window, windows that come out from the roof, and may be surrounded by wide ve ...

s and newer vacation homes on stilts," where tourists walked on white sand beaches. On November 22, 1985, Hurricane Kate's eye passed over Mexico Beach. Category 2 winds and tides destroyed beachfront homes and businesses.

Hurricane Michael

Hurricane Michael made landfall near Mexico Beach on October 10, 2018, just before 1 p.m. local time with maximum sustained winds of , the first Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the United States since

Hurricane Andrew Hurricane Andrew was a compact, but very powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that struck the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana in August 1992. It was the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures dama ...

in 1992. Michael made history as the third strongest (by pressure) and fourth strongest (by wind speed) landfalling storm in the continental

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The storm caused extensive damage to the community, and to the nearby

Tyndall Air Force Base Tyndall Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located east of Panama City, Florida. The base was named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lt. Frank Benjamin Tyndall. The base operating unit and host wing is the 325th Fighter Wing (3 ...

. Nearly all homes were totally destroyed. Brock Long, the FEMA administrator, told

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

that Mexico Beach was "wiped out" and referred to the community as "ground zero". The elementary school and city hall were among the buildings devastated; the pier washed away, and the water tower was knocked down. A report by the State indicated that roughly 285 people in Mexico Beach had declined to evacuate the area, although some of those may have left before the peak of the storm. Three people from Mexico Beach were listed among the deaths due to the hurricane. At that time, Mayor Al Cathey told residents it might be months before electricity, water, and plumbing were restored.

Rebuilding

The city has rebuilt since the storm, with aid from the federal government and its own expenditures. The population of the county rebounded by 2024.

Geography

The approximate coordinates for the City of Mexico Beach is located on the southernmost tip of Bay County at . According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land, and , or 2.84%, is water. Mexico Beach is located in the

, along the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild winters. According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, Mexico Beach has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

zone (''Cfa'').

Demographics

2010 and 2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 916 people, 745 households, and 415 families residing in the city. As of the 2010 United States census, there were 1,072 people, 599 households, and 325 families residing in the city. In 2010, the population density was . There were 1,852 housing units at an average density of . In 2010, there were 599 households, out of which 11.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.8% were headed by

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 6.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.2% were non-families. 38.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.6% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.90, and the average family size was 2.43. In 2010, in the city, the population was spread out, with 11.3% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 16.7% from 25 to 44, 35.5% from 45 to 64, and 31.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 55.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.3 males.

2000 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 1,017 people, 526 households, and 319 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 1,322 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 95.67%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.28%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.49% Native American, 0.79% Asian, 0.39%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, and 1.38% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.77% of the population. In 2000, there were 526 households out of which 11.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.4% were

living together, 5.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.2% were non-families. 33.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.93 and the average family size was 2.42. In 2000, in the city the population was spread out with 11.1% under the age of 18, 3.9% from 18 to 24, 19.8% from 25 to 44, 34.8% from 45 to 64, and 30.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 54 years. For every 100 females there were 97.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.7 males. In 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $31,950, and the median income for a family was $40,163. Males had a median income of $30,278 versus $23,125 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $22,871. About 8.1% of families and 11.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 18.8% of those under age 18 and 10.7% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Although physically located in Bay County, Mexico Beach is served by Gulf County Schools rather than the Bay District Schools. Mexico Beach is located within the school district boundary of Bay District schools, which then pays the Gulf County district the tuition money for Mexico Beach residents.
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from

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References

External links

* * {{authority control Cities in Bay County, Florida Populated coastal places in Florida on the Gulf of Mexico Populated places established in 1966 Cities in Florida 1966 establishments in Florida