West Palm Beach vs. Riviera Beach vs. Lake Park vs. Palm Beach

Last checked Oct. 10, 2026. Sources: the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser, the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020-2024 American Community Survey, Palm Beach County’s school zone open data and municipal boundaries, the Florida Department of Education’s 2026 school grades, Zillow Research and the City of West Palm Beach’s parcel layer.

The three nearest incorporated neighbors of West Palm Beach are the City of Riviera Beach, about 4 miles north; the Town of Lake Park, about 5 miles north; and the Town of Palm Beach, about 6 miles away across the Lake Worth Lagoon, measured between the centers of each place. All four are in Palm Beach County and the School District of Palm Beach County, so they share the county and school tax rates and the same school zone map. What differs is each one’s own tax rate, its zoned high schools and its home values. Every figure below comes from an official source, the same year for all four.

What this means for you

• The city or town rate is the part of the tax bill that differs; Palm Beach’s is the lowest of the four for 2026 and Riviera Beach’s the highest.
• Zillow’s typical home value in August 2026 was about $400,000 to $420,000 in West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach and Lake Park, and $2,140,266 in Palm Beach.
• Check the exact address: city limits, ZIP codes and school zones do not line up.

Population, income and commute

From the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year estimates:

Each place name links to its Census QuickFacts page. The home value here is what owners told the Census Bureau their home was worth, averaged over five years, so it differs from Zillow’s figures below. For Palm Beach the bureau reports only its highest category, $2 million or more. Lake Park and Palm Beach are much smaller than the other two, so their survey estimates rest on fewer households.

Property tax rates

The municipal operating rate for the 2026 tax year, the bills mailed in November, in mills (one mill is $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value), from the Property Appraiser’s 2026 proposed millage chart (PDF):

Two of the four also levy a debt service rate on the same chart: West Palm Beach’s falls from 0.0580 to 0.0533 mills, and Riviera Beach’s goes from none in 2025 to a proposed 1.0000. Downtown West Palm Beach parcels inside the Downtown Development Authority district pay that authority’s rate too. Final rates are set at each government’s September budget hearings. On a home with a $300,000 taxable value, the municipal operating line alone works out to about $783 in Palm Beach, $1,530 in Lake Park, $2,439 in West Palm Beach and $2,505 in Riviera Beach at the rates above. See our property taxes guide.

All four share these rates on the same chart:

Other lines vary by parcel, among them the county’s fire rescue rate (3.4581 mills) and library rate (0.5491 mills) where those county services apply. The TRIM notice from the Property Appraiser lists every one for a parcel.

The homestead exemption is set by state law and is the same in all four: $25,000 off the assessed value for all taxes and a second exemption, up to $25,722 for 2025, off non-school taxes, according to the Property Appraiser.

Chart: the municipal rates

High schools

High school zones covering each place, from Palm Beach County’s open data copy of the district’s attendance zones, with Florida’s 2026 school grades:

Each name links to the school’s state report card. Shares for West Palm Beach come from the city’s parcel layer, matched home by home; for the other three they are shares of land inside each boundary on Palm Beach County’s municipal boundary layer, which can differ from shares of homes. Check any address on the district’s Find My School map. More in our schools guide and our neighborhoods guide.

Home values

From the Zillow Home Value Index, August 2026:

The index is a modeled typical value for the middle third of homes, single-family homes and condos together, not a sale price. More in our home prices guide.

Chart: typical home values

How to check an address

• Which city or town a parcel is in, and its tax rates: search the parcel on the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser site; its tax calculator estimates a bill.
• The zoned schools: the district’s Find My School map.
• The bill itself: the Palm Beach County Tax Collector mails it by Nov. 1 and takes payment through March 31.
• A West Palm Beach mailing address does not always mean the City of West Palm Beach; the Property Appraiser’s record shows the municipality.

Frequently asked questions

What is the property tax rate in West Palm Beach compared with Palm Beach?

West Palm Beach’s city operating rate is 8.1308 mills for 2026 and the Town of Palm Beach’s is 2.611, both unchanged, according to the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s 2026 proposed millage chart. Riviera Beach’s is 8.35 and Lake Park’s 5.1.

Which has higher home values, West Palm Beach or Riviera Beach?

Zillow’s typical home value in August 2026 was $404,294 in West Palm Beach and $411,350 in Riviera Beach, according to the Zillow Home Value Index. Lake Park was $416,611 and Palm Beach $2,140,266.

What high school is Palm Beach zoned for?

Most of the Town of Palm Beach is split between the zones for Forest Hill Community High and Palm Beach Lakes Community High, both in West Palm Beach, with Lake Worth High at the south end, in Palm Beach County’s copy of the district’s zones.

How many people live in West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach, Lake Park and Palm Beach?

122,290 in West Palm Beach, 38,657 in Riviera Beach, 9,081 in Lake Park and 9,348 in Palm Beach, in the Census Bureau’s 2020-2024 American Community Survey.