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Towns / Florida

San Castle, Florida

San Castle is an unincorporated community of about 3,100 people in Palm Beach County, Florida, in the Miami area. It has no city government of its own: local services come from the county, or in some states from the town or township. A typical home costs about 5.3 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Miami, is about 55 miles away as the crow flies.

Suburb of Miami

Population
3,052
Census survey, 2020-24
Typical home, 2020-24
$303,900
Palm Beach County prices up 19% since 2022
Household income
$57,228
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Miami area
114.2
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
3 miles
Atlantis, FL
To Miami
55 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 14.2% above the U.S. average in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 5.3 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI doesn't publish crime figures for unincorporated communities. Call the county sheriff's office (or the town or township police, where there is one) and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town3 public schools: 2 elementary and 1 middle. No public high school in town: the nearest is Palm Beach Maritime Academy Secondary, about 1 mile away.
  • A hospital close byHCA Florida Jfk Hospital in Atlantis, about 3 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityMiami is about 55 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means San Castle meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

San Castle runs into the built-up area around Miami (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$303,900U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 19%Palm Beach County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,596 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$57,228U.S.: $80,734
Typical property tax bill
$1,516 a yearFlorida: $2,730
Homes built before 1940
0%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
0%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
3%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
114.2U.S. average = 100 (the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 19% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro area, not San Castle alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2020-2024 Census survey
3,052The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
36.4 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
13%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
23%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
18%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
3%U.S.: 6%
College students
5%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Professional and business services (19%); construction (17%)
Unemployment rate
9%U.S.: 5%
Work from home
4%U.S.: 15%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: HCA Florida Jfk Hospital, Atlantis, FL, about 3 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

3 public schools in San Castle, run by Palm Beach. The nearest public high school is Palm Beach Maritime Academy Secondary, about 1 mile away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Florida's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Weather

January average low
58°F
July average high
90°F
Days 90°F or hotter
74 a year
Nights at or below freezing
0 a year
Rain and melted snow
63.6 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
21 feet

Weather stations: West Palm Beach Intl Ap (9 miles away) and Loxahatchee Nwr (11 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: HCA Florida Jfk Hospital, Boynton Beach, Miami.

Palm Beach County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Big Cypress National Preserve55 miles

Read about San Castle's history on Wikipedia.

Know San Castle?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Manalapan, FL445 people, 1 mile
  • Briny Breezes, FL533 people, 4 miles
  • Golf, FL271 people, 5 miles
  • Kenwood Estates, FL (unincorporated)1,263 people, 5 miles
  • Gulf Stream, FL986 people, 5 miles
  • Acacia Villas, FL (unincorporated)131 people, 6 miles
  • Pine Air, FL (unincorporated)2,258 people, 7 miles
  • Glen Ridge, FL217 people, 7 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.