Palm Bay is a city in the state of Florida, on the east central Atlantic coast. It is located within Brevard County. Miami lies 290 km towards the south of Palm bay City. Palm Bay has a total land area of 165 km2. The population is just more than 100,000 people.
The city of Palm Bay was incorporated fairly recently, in the year 1960. The previous year, two Miami brothers had obtained undeveloped land in the region. They planned a residential project for the place, and eventually the development led to development of industry and population growth in the region. The first industrial business to locate there was Radiation, Inc. (afterward the Harris Corporation). From the 1970's to 1990's, Palm Bay expanded rapidly. The location of the city near the Atlantic Ocean and its accessibility to key cities within central and coastal Florida, like for example Miami and Orlando, have spurred the city's growth.
The economy of Palm Bay is mainly dependent upon tourism and high-technology. Palm Bay's other key employment sectors include manufacturing, healthcare, computer and electronic products, construction, professional, scientific and technical services and government. Nearly one third of the labor force are in sales and office jobs.
Brevard County supports many high-tech and aerospace companies, such as United Space Alliance, Bamsi, Boeing, Space Gateway Support, NASA/Kennedy Space Center Contractors, Northrop Grumman Corporation, USBI, Lockheed Martin and Rockwell-Collins. Palm Bay companies employ numerous college graduates as computer software applications engineers, computer software systems engineers, industrial engineers, aerospace engineers, management analysts, electrical engineers, computer programmers and mechanical engineers.
The biggest employment providers within the area are Harris Corporation, Intersil, DRS Optronics, MC Assembly, Holmes Regional Medical Center, Walmart, Publix Supermarkets, Winn Dixie Supermarkets, Palm Bay Community Hospital and the City of Palm Bay.
The city boast numerous areas for outdoor recreation, including The Wildlife Turkey Creek Sanctuary, where rare and endangered animals and plants are found and The Florida Tech Botanical garden, with its unique collection of palm trees. Sebastian Inlet State Park is located 20 minutes south of the city. Sport fishing is very popular there, both from private boats and from charters.