MONEY | County Wealth – Indian River, Fla.

Indian River County, Fla. Economic Summit Meeting, March 2016. That is your blogger in the red shirt.

The Indian River Economic Summit met last week at a restaurant overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Vero Beach.

We discussed the Indian River and County and Vero Beach economies.

Indian River County ranks #7 in Florida on per capita income. See chart at right.


Zip Code Economic Analysis

Narrowing down to zip codes, Indian River County includes one of the wealthiest zip codes in the United States (32963, the Barrier Island of Vero Beach, traversed from top to bottom by State Road A1A).

IRS data on Adjusted Gross Income and Income per Return are available for 199 Florida zip codes.

But some of the zip codes cover are enclaves–with a small number of individuals and don't constitute real communities.

So in reviewing Florida's zip codes, we start by deleting those with fewer than 100 tax returns. That gives us the following 25 highest-income zip codes:

City	Zip Code	Returns	AGI	Income per Return
Florida	FLORIDA	6,894,447	294,420,323	$42,704
Miami Beach	33109	191	416,400	$2,180,105
Tallahassee	32306	53	39,727	$749,566
Fort Lauderdale	33394	35	19,786	$565,314
Palm Beach	33480	6,564	3,003,143	$457,517
Pensacola	32581	25	10,526	$421,040
Jacksonville	32232	62	21,027	$339,145
Boca Grande	33921	653	219,622	$336,328
Boca Grande	34630	40	12,216	$305,400
Boca Grande	32749	11	3,001	$272,818
Longboat Key	34228	3,610	972,220	$269,313
Orlando	32827	397	93,075	$234,446
Longwood	32752	361	81,969	$227,061
Vero Beach	32963	6,752	1,505,406	$222,957
Naples	34102	5,576	1,166,510	$209,202
Naples	33341	14	2,846	$203,286
Bradenton	34201	498	100,902	$202,614
Bradenton	33940	828	164,565	$198,750
Pensacola	32589	21	4,147	$197,476
Pineland	33945	204	39,435	$193,309
Miami	33261	420	78,226	$186,252
Boca Raton	33496	10,086	1,802,136	$178,677
Naples	34103	6,084	1,081,434	$177,750
Naples	34108	7,419	1,311,940	$176,835
Bonita Springs	34134	4,619	810,984	$175,576
Miami	33231	46	7,498	$163,000

Now we delete the odd zip codes with fewer than 100 tax returns and focus on the top 10. Look at the four zip codes that have 1,000 or more tax returns filed. These four zip codes stand out as viable communities with high incomes–Palm Beach 33480, Longboat Key 34228, Vero Beach 32963 and Naples 34102. Vero Beach ranks #3. The smallest is Longboat Key and the largest is Vero Beach. All four communities have cultural facilities that punch way above their weight for communities of their size.

1	Miami Beach	33109	191	416,400	$2,180,105
2	Palm Beach	33480	6,564	3,003,143	$457,517
3	Boca Grande	33921	653	219,622	$336,328
4	Longboat Key	34228	3,610	972,220	$269,313
5	Orlando	32827	397	93,075	$234,446
6	Longwood	32752	361	81,969	$227,061
7	Vero Beach	32963	6,752	1,505,406	$222,957
8	Naples	34102	5,576	1,166,510	$209,202
9	Bradenton	34201	498	100,902	$202,614
10	Bradenton	33940	828	164,565	$198,750

How does this play out in Vero Beach?

The Indian River Library is an indicator of the importance of being a wealthy community. It has benefited not only from the county's strong tax base but also from significant gifts that increase the library's usefulness to its patrons:

• A new two-story Main Library opened in 1991 and a bequest to the library by the Julian W. Lowenstein family in 1985 has been used to help construct a new library building with a much-expanded 2nd floor.
• It now houses The Florida History and Genealogy Department, reference department and reading room, bearing the name of Mr. Lowenstein.
• The library owns a microfilm copy of the entire U.S. census from 1790 to 1860. 
• The county commissioners approved funds to expand the children's, reference and genealogy departments. Between 1991 and 2002, the genealogy department quadrupled in size to 4,000 square feet.
• It includes the Indian River County Historical Society photographs (5000+) and documents (20+ boxes) to the library's "Archive Center", which now has more than 35,000 titles, 40,000 microfiches, 11,000 microfilms, 9 computers and Wi-Fi.

At the end of the last century the library was first or second in Florida in per capita attendance at adult programs and new borrowers.  This may account for the three negative reviews on Yelp of the library's services in 2013 and 2015 in comparison with, for example, the County Library branch at Sebastian. But one goes to a library primarily to look for books and other documents, and secondarily for the services of the staff, so it might be a good trade to go to the busier library even though the staff may be busier and less generous with their time than in a library with fewer books and patrons.

St. Edward's School – and the Classical Orchestra that performs there – is another gem in Vero Beach.

The Vero Art Museum and the Riverside Theater are two more institutions that are astonishingly vigorous for such a small community.

The Indian River Medical Center his attracting talented doctors in a variety of fields. The Vero Beach Regional Airport is a joy to use as an alternative to Orlando, West Palm Beach or Melbourne.

New attractions are picking up support like the Indian River Historical Society.

Our Summit over, we agree on a positive outlook for the
Indian River County economy.

Indian River State College is a community college with some B.A. degree offerings in public service and agricultural fields for which demand for skilled help n the region is high.

For advanced degrees students attend institutions in neighboring cities with academic faculties offering master's and doctoral programs.

The Economic Summit meeting concluded with a general sense of optimism about the county's economy, with a diverse base of supporting institutions and available labor for agricultural, cultural, real estate, retail, medical and sports employers.

The Summit members were, however, concerned that local priorities remain focused on adequate protection of the environmental attractions that draw visitors and retirees to the area. This means controlled growth and aggressive precautions to avoid or prepare for natural and man-made disasters.