About the Treasure Coast

The Treasure Coast Region is quite diverse in its landscape and natural features. The coastal areas of the region are both heavily populated and developed while western portions of the region remain rural with significant environmental and agricultural influences. The region is home to portions of Lake Okeechobee, the northern extent of the Everglades, Jonathan Dickinson State Park, The Savannahs, and the St. Lucie and Loxahatchee Rivers.

The Treasure Coast Region consists of 48 municipalities, including the four counties. A majority of the municipalities (37) are in Palm Beach County. In 2000, local governments ranged in size from Port St. Lucie (population 88,769) to the Town of Cloud Lake (population 167). However, the unincorporated areas contained a larger population than any single municipality for three of the four counties. The City of Port St. Lucie is larger than the unincorporated population of St. Lucie County.

The major population center of the Region is the heavy urbanized coastal area of Palm Beach County from Jupiter (39,328) in the north to Boca Raton (74,764) in the south; including the central City of West Palm Beach (68,006), as well as Lake Worth (35,133), Boynton Beach (60,389) and Delray Beach (60,020). Although this older coastal area remains foremost, a great deal of the recent population growth has occurred to the west of coastal cities in unincorporated areas and in relatively new local jurisdictions such as Greenacres (27,569), Royal Palm Beach (21,523), Palm Beach Gardens (35,058), and Jupiter (39,328) in Palm Beach County; and Port St. Lucie (88,769) in St. Lucie County. In 2000, just under half of the population of the Region lived in unincorporated areas, in 1990 this percentage was just over half, and was only 34 percent in 1970.