Panama City, Florida, United States

🇺🇸 Panama City is a city in and the county seat of Bay County, Florida, United States. Located along U.S. Route 98, it is the largest city between Tallahassee and Pensacola. It is the more populated of two principal cities of the Panama City-Lynn Haven, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Panama City was catastrophically damaged when Hurricane Michael made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane on October 10, 2018. When Panama City was incorporated in 1909, its original city limits were 15th Street (Hwy 98) on the north, Balboa Avenue on the west and Bay Avenue on the east.

Personal income As of the 2000 census, the city's median household income was $31,572, and the median income for a family was $40,890. Males had a median income of $30,401 versus $21,431 for females. The city's per capita income was $17,830. About 12.1% of families and 17.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.5% of those under age 18 and 14.9% of those age 65 or over.

Economy: Industry Two military bases make the federal government the largest employer. Other major industrial employers in the Bay County area include Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Gulf Power, WestRock, Trane, L-3 Communications, ARINC, and JENSEN-GROUP.

Real estate In 2006, Panama City was named the best place to invest in real estate in the US by CNN's Business 2.0 magazine.

Military Tyndall Air Force Base is east of the city. The HHT 1-153 CAV is stationed there. It is part of Florida Army National Guard's 53rd Infantry Brigade. The city is also home to the U.S. Navy's Naval Support Activity Panama City which is home to various research and training projects. The city is also approximately 100 miles south of Fort Rucker, Alabama, home to the US Army's Aviation Center of Excellence.

Economy: Retail The city's main retail centre was the Panama City Mall until it was permanently closed after Hurricane Michael. In August 2020, Panama City Mall released the plans to the mall. The plans for the mall includes a hotel, shops, and restaurants. Another local retail centre is the Bay City Pointe, on FL 368 (locally known as 23rd St.). Pier Park, on the beach across the Hathaway Bridge spanning St. Andrews Bay, is a third local retail center. Others retail areas in the Panama City Metro are the 15th Street Shopping Strip (A area between Harrison Ave/US Highway 231 and Beck Ave/US Bus 98/State Road 390), 23rd Street Shopping Strip, Downtown Panama City, Historic St. Andrews, and Millville Historic District.

Transport: Road The two main east–west thoroughfares in Panama City proper are 23rd Street and US 98. SR 368 runs east–west across the northern part of the city as a bypass. US 98 runs east–west through the city itself, leading south-east 24 miles (39 km) to Mexico Beach and west 10 miles (16 km) to Panama City Beach.

The two main north–south thoroughfares in the city are Martin Luther King Boulevard, otherwise known as SR 77 and US 231. SR 77 leads north six miles (9.7 km) to the Panama City suburb of Lynn Haven. US 231 begins its national journey northward in the city, leading north-east 83 miles (134 km) to Dothan, Alabama.

Other more local highways run through the city, including many county roads.

Bridges Because of the city's position on St. Andrews Bay, bridges are very important to the area, and most directions into or out of the city require the use of one of three large bridges to cross parts of the bay. These are the Bailey Bridge to the north on Hwy 77, the Dupont Bridge to the south on Hwy 98 and the Hathaway Bridge to the west on Hwy 98. The largest of these is the Hathaway Bridge, which is the only direct connection between Panama City and Panama City Beach.

Transport: Rail The Bay Line Railroad has an 82-mile (132 km) rail line running north to Dothan, Alabama, to a connection with CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern. Until some point between 1955 and 1956 the Atlanta and St. Andrews Bay Railroad ran passenger trains from Panama City to Dothan, Alabama. Additionally, the A&StA operated sleeping car service to Atlanta from Panama City.

Bus transportation Local transit is handled by the Baytown Trolley services. Service generally runs Monday–Saturday from 6 AM to 7 PM.

Air transportation The city was served by the Panama City-Bay County International Airport (PFN) until May 22, 2010. It was replaced by the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (ECP) with Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines. In June 2018, ECP also added American Airlines.

Transport: Port The Port of Panama City is on St. Andrews Bay.