Boca Raton, FL

What Boca Raton is actually like

Boca Raton incorporated twice in less than a year: first as “Bocaratone” on August 2, 1924, then re-incorporated as “Boca Raton” on May 26, 1925. Architect Addison Mizner, appointed town planner right after that first incorporation, wanted to build “the foremost resort city on the North American continent”—his Mizner Development Company raised $5 million in stock subscriptions within a week of incorporating in 1925, and his first project, the Cloister Inn, opened in 1926 (Wikipedia; Boca Raton Historical Society).

The boom didn't survive him. The 1926 Miami hurricane ended Florida's land boom, and the Mizner Development Corporation went bankrupt in 1927 with little of Mizner's ambitious plan built beyond his administration buildings, the Cloister Inn, and stretches of El Camino Real — the 1930 census counted just 447 residents. The Cloister Inn survived as what's now the Boca Raton Resort, a Ritz-Carlton property, and growth stayed slow for decades until two later anchors reshaped the city: Florida Atlantic University, founded in 1961, and IBM's Boca Raton facility, which introduced the first IBM Personal Computer in August 1981 (Wikipedia).

Boca Raton's population reached an estimated 101,582 as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau), with a median household income of $106,273 — well above the county figure. Mizner Park, the Mediterranean Revival-styled shopping, dining, and residential district that replaced the failed 1974 Boca Mall, opened in 1991 and now anchors downtown alongside the Boca Raton Museum of Art (Wikipedia). Boca Raton is also one of four Palm Beach County cities named by real estate agents as a current hotspot in what's being called the “Mamdani Migration”—a fresh wave of New Yorkers relocating south that one broker estimates at roughly 30,000 people moving to Palm Beach and Broward counties in recent years, an estimated $9.2 billion in economic impact (WPTV).

Home values in Boca Raton

Zillow's Home Value Index for Boca Raton was $576,824 as of August 31, 2026, up 3.7% year-over-year (Zillow) — well above the county's West Palm Beach figure. Palm Beach County's combined 2025–26 millage runs about 18.72 mills, or roughly 1.87% of taxable value; Florida's standard $50,000 homestead exemption and the Save Our Homes cap (limiting annual assessment growth to 3% for existing homesteaded owners) both apply to a primary residence, though a new buyer's first-year tax bill is based on the home's market value at purchase, not a prior owner's capped assessment (Momentum). Boca Raton's housing stock includes a large stock of coastal and Intracoastal-adjacent condo and co-op towers, so buyers here should budget for Florida's post-Surfside condo law, SB 4-D: buildings three stories or taller need a “milestone” structural inspection at 30 years old (25 years within three miles of the coast, which covers most of Boca Raton's east-side towers) and a fully funded structural integrity reserve study, which has shown up in practice as higher HOA dues and the occasional large special assessment in older buildings (Florida DBPR). Homeowners insurance countywide is described as running from the mid four figures a year for inland or entry-level homes up to five figures or more for coastal, older, or luxury construction — among the higher premium ranges in Florida (Living in Palm Beach County FL).

Getting around

Boca Raton's citywide Walk Score of 38 is an honest number, not a rounding error — this is a car-first city overall, even though the Mizner Park/downtown core and FAU's campus area are genuinely more walkable in isolation. Both a Tri-Rail station and a dedicated Brightline stop give Boca Raton better regional and intercity rail access than most of the rest of the county, but neither replaces a car for day-to-day errands citywide.

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