Advertising services for Palm Bay, FL

People and buying power

The metropolitan statistical area covers Palm Bay, Melbourne and Titusville.

Housing: a median home value of $339,600, in line with the national figure. Income in Palm Bay, FL: a median of $78,476 per household against $80,734 nationally, so 3 percent below the national figure. Together they say a good deal about the ticket sizes a local business can expect.

76.7% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, 12 points above the US share. Age first: the median is 46.7, 7.8 years above the national median. 34.2% of adults over 25 hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 2 points below the US share. A labor force of 299,758 carries an unemployment rate of 4.8%, about the same as the US share.

How does that compare with the state as a whole? Income in Palm Bay, FL is 5 percent higher than the Florida figure, the median home value is 5 percent lower than the Florida figure, and business density is 15 percent thinner than the Florida figure; the full numbers are on the Florida page.

Who is already competing here

There are 15,510 employer businesses in Palm Bay, FL. That works out to 24.5 businesses per 1,000 residents, in line with the national figure (the national rate is 25 per 1,000). 1,037 of them are home-services contractors, 6.7% of everything, 2 points above the US share. The most numerous category on this page is restaurants at 1,068.

The last column divides the local share of establishments by the national share (1.00 = the same mix as the US).

Where competition is thickest: roofing contractors, landscaping services, specialty trade contractors and self-storage operators all hold a larger share of the local base than they do nationally. The sharpest example is roofing contractors: 83 establishments, 1.8 times the share seen nationally. Fewer than the national pattern would suggest: road and paving contractors, general freight trucking and child day care services. Road and paving contractors are the widest shortfall at 9 establishments, about half of the US share. In line with the country: electrical contractors, general automotive repair and automobile dealers.

Counted by establishments, the order is restaurants (1,068), physicians' offices (511), personal care services (358). Adjusted for population, restaurants are the thickest on the ground (168.8 per 100,000), with physicians' offices and personal care services next. The group picture: the home-services trades above the national pattern at 1.4 times, trucking, storage, real estate and road construction below it at about 81% of.

Where the openings are

roofing contractors, landscaping services and specialty trade contractors face a full field here. Each new review, each answered call and each page that matches a specific search is a small edge, and the edges add up. With road and paving contractors, general freight trucking and child day care services in short supply, the map pack often has room; a complete listing and a handful of recent reviews can put a business in it. With a median age 7.8 years above the national median, the classic path of search, reviews and a phone call still carries most of the business. Homeownership of 76.7% is above the national share; more of the households that search for home services are also the ones that decide and pay.