Deerfield Beach, Florida

Deerfield Beach is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States, just south of the Palm Beach County line. As of the 2020 census, the population was 86,859,^[3] making it the tenth-largest city in Broward County. Located 41 miles north of Miami, it is a key suburb of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to 6.14 million people in 2020.

Deerfield Beach
City
Deerfield Beach with pier in background
Seal
Location within the state of Florida
Coordinates: 26°19′05″N 80°05′59″W
Country	United States
State	Florida
County	Broward
Incorporated as Deerfield (town)	June 11, 1925[1]
Incorporated as Deerfield Beach (town)	May 12, 1939
Incorporated as Deerfield Beach (city)	June 13, 1945
Government
• Type	Mayor–council
• Mayor	William "Bill" Ganz
• Vice mayor	Bernie Parness
• Commissioners	Michael Hudak, Todd Drosky, and Ben Preston
• City manager	Dave Santucci
• City clerk	Heather Montemayor
Area [2]
• Total	16.22 sq mi (42.01 km2)
• Land	14.95 sq mi (38.71 km2)
• Water	1.27 sq mi (3.30 km2)  7.12%
Elevation	13 ft (4 m)
Population  (2020)[3]
• Total	86,859
• Estimate  (2022)[4]	86,772
• Rank	201st in the United States 14th in Florida
• Density	5,804.15/sq mi (2,241.59/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP Codes	33441–33443
Area code(s)	754, 954
FIPS code	12-16725[5]
GNIS feature ID	0281460[6]
Website	www.deerfield-beach.com

History

Deerfield Beach's history dates to 1890, when a small settlement named Hillsborough was developed along the Hillsboro River. As the population grew to 20 by 1898, the settlement was now served by its own post office and the town was named Deerfield for the deer that grazed along the river.

By the early 20th century, as the town's population continued to grow, the Florida East Coast Railroad constructed tracks en route to Miami bisecting Deerfield. Deerfield's early settlers were mostly farmers who grew pineapples, tomatoes, green beans, squash and fished along the Intracoastal Waterway. Deerfield remained a largely agricultural community, but in 1939 the town's name was changed to Deerfield Beach to let tourists know it has a beach.^[7] In 1952, the original Deerfield Beach Pier was built of wood.^[8]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 16.3 square miles (42.1 km²), of which 15.1 square miles (39.1 km²) is land and 1.2 square miles (3.0 km²) is water (7.12%).^[9] Of Deerfield Beach's land mass 0.3 square miles is located on Deerfield Beach Island^[10] (DBI).

Climate

Deerfield Beach has a borderline tropical rainforest climate (Köppen climate classification: Af), bordering on a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification: Am), featuring hot summer days, frequent thunderstorms in the summer, and less frequent rain in the fall.

During the summer months average temperatures tend to be in the 80s, while during the winter temperatures tend to be in the 60s. July is generally the warmest month of the year with an average maximum temperature of 92 °F (33.3 °C), while the coldest month of the year is February with an average minimum temperature of 58 °F (14.4 °C). The all-time record high is 101 °F (38.3 °C) recorded in 1981, while the all-time record low is 21 °F (−6.1 °C) which was recorded in 1995.^[11] The year-round average temperature is 77 °F (25.0 °C).^[7]

The annual average precipitation at Deerfield Beach is 57.27 inches (1,455 mm). Summer months tend to be wetter than winter months. The wettest month of the year is June with an average rainfall of 7.3 inches (190 mm).^[11]

Deerfield Beach falls under the USDA 10b Plant Hardiness zone.^[12]

Climate data for Deerfield Beach, FL
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °F (°C)	90 (32)	90 (32)	92 (33)	100 (38)	99 (37)	100 (38)	101 (38)	99 (37)	99 (37)	97 (36)	96 (36)	89 (32)	101 (38)
Mean daily maximum °F (°C)	76 (24)	77 (25)	80 (27)	83 (28)	87 (31)	90 (32)	92 (33)	92 (33)	91 (33)	87 (31)	82 (28)	78 (26)	85 (29)
Mean daily minimum °F (°C)	58 (14)	58 (14)	62 (17)	66 (19)	71 (22)	74 (23)	75 (24)	75 (24)	74 (23)	71 (22)	66 (19)	61 (16)	68 (20)
Record low °F (°C)	25 (−4)	21 (−6)	32 (0)	40 (4)	50 (10)	40 (4)	53 (12)	59 (15)	57 (14)	44 (7)	35 (2)	28 (−2)	21 (−6)
Average precipitation inches (mm)	2.78 (71)	2.85 (72)	3.0 (76)	3.4 (86)	5.73 (146)	7.31 (186)	5.94 (151)	6.91 (176)	7.01 (178)	5.73 (146)	4.24 (108)	2.46 (62)	57.36 (1,457)
Source: Weather.com[13]

Climate data for Deerfield Beach
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily daylight hours	10.5	11.5	12.0	12.5	13.5	13.5	13.5	13.0	12.5	11.5	11.0	10.5	12.1
Source: Weather Atlas[14]

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1930	1,483		—
1940	1,850		24.7%
1950	2,088		12.9%
1960	9,573		358.5%
1970	16,662		74.1%
1980	39,193		135.2%
1990	46,325		18.2%
2000	64,583		39.4%
2010	75,018		16.2%
2020	86,859		15.8%
2022 (est.)	86,772		−0.1%
U.S. Decennial Census[15] 1930–1970[16] 1980[17] 1990[18] 2000[19] 2010[20] 2020[3] 2022[4]

Historical racial composition	2020[3]	2010[20]	2000[19]	1990[18]	1980[17]
White (non-Hispanic)	41.7%	56.0%	71.2%	78.9%	80.4%
Hispanic or Latino	20.2%	14.2%	8.7%	3.9%	2.1%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)	24.4%	25.0%	15.7%	16.2%	17.1%
Asian and Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic)	1.9%	1.5%	1.4%	0.8%	0.4%
Native American (non-Hispanic)	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%
Some other race (non-Hispanic)	3.3%	1.4%	0.7%	0.1%
Two or more races (non-Hispanic)	8.3%	1.9%	2.1%	N/A	N/A
Population	86,859	75,018	64,583	46,325	39,193

Demographic characteristics	2020[21][22][23]	2010[24][25][26]	2000[27][28][29]	1990[18]	1980[17][30]
Households	46,993	42,671	37,343	23,118	18,422
Persons per household	1.85	1.76	1.73	2.00	2.13
Sex Ratio	93.5	93.4	87.2	83.2	81.8
Ages 0–17	17.7%	18.0%	15.6%	13.6%	14.6%
Ages 18–64	60.8%	60.6%	55.1%	50.1%	44.2%
Ages 65 +	21.6%	21.5%	29.3%	36.3%	41.3%
Median age	43.7	43.3	44.6	48.6	60.6
Population	86,859	75,018	64,583	46,325	39,193

Economic indicators
2017–21 American Community Survey	Deerfield Beach	Broward County	Florida
Median income[31]	$31,343	$36,222	$34,367
Median household income[32]	$49,650	$64,522	$61,777
Poverty Rate[33]	15.6%	12.4%	13.1%
High school diploma[34]	85.4%	90.0%	89.0%
Bachelor's degree[34]	26.9%	34.3%	31.5%
Advanced degree[34]	9.0%	13.1%	11.7%

Language spoken at home[note 1]	2015[note 2]	2010[note 3]	2000[37]	1990[38]	1980[39]
English	57.8%	59.3%	74.7%	85.3%	87.7%
Spanish or Spanish Creole	14.6%	12.6%	8.6%	3.2%	2.1%
French or Haitian Creole	12.5%	12.5%	5.5%	3.7%	1.5%
Portuguese	N/A[note 4]	9.5%	4.9%	0.4%	N/A[note 4]
Yiddish	N/A[note 4]	0.6%	1.2%	2.4%	N/A[note 4]
Other Languages	15.1%	5.5%	5.1%	5.0%	8.7%

Nativity	2015[note 5]	2010[note 6]	2000[44][45]	1990[46][38]	1980[39]
% population native-born	66.0%	68.5%	77.3%	84.9%	85.5%
... born in the United States	63.9%	66.5%	75.8%	83.8%	84.8%
... born in Puerto Rico or Island Areas	0.9%	1.1%	0.9%	0.3%	0.7%
... born to American parents abroad	1.2%	0.9%	0.7%	0.8%
% population foreign-born[note 7]	34.0%	31.5%	22.7%	15.1%	14.5%
... born in Haiti	7.9%	7.3%	2.8%	2.1%	N/A[note 4]
... born in Brazil	7.1%	8.3%	4.7%	0.3%	N/A[note 4]
... born in Canada	2.2%	2.2%	2.0%	1.6%	1.6%
... born in Russia	0.2%	0.1%	0.4%	1.4%	2.4%
... born in Poland	0.1%	0.6%	0.9%	1.7%[note 8]	2.8%[note 8]
... born in other countries	16.5%	13.0%	11.9%	8.0%	7.7%

As of 2000^[update], 16.3% of households had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.2% were married couples living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.9% were non-families. 40.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 22.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.02 and the average family size was 2.72.

In 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $34,041, and the median income for a family was $44,853. Males had a median income of $35,154 versus $27,451 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,296. About 9.2% of families and 12.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.3% of those under age 18 and 10.2% of those age 65 or over.

As of 2000^[update], Deerfield Beach also had the highest percentage of Brazilian and Brazilian American population (as a percentage of total population) in the United States at 11.06%.^[47] It also has a significant percentage of Haitian and Haitian American residents in the United States, at 12.1%.^[48]

Arts and culture

Deerfield Beach

Palm trees along Deerfield Beach

Deerfield Beach City Hall

Points of interest

• Deerfield Beach Arboretum
• Deerfield Island Park^[49]
• Quiet Waters Park
• Deerfield Beach Island (DBI)

Libraries

There are two locations of the Broward County Library system in Deerfield Beach:

• Century Plaza
• Percy White

Education

There are five public schools in Deerfield Beach, as well as numerous private institutions. Public schools are administered by Broward County Public Schools.^[50]

Elementary schools

• Deerfield Beach Elementary School^[51]
• Deerfield Park Elementary School
• Park Ridge Elementary School
• Quiet Waters Elementary School
• Tedder Elementary School

Middle schools

• Deerfield Beach Middle School^[52]
• Lyons Creek Middle School in Coconut Creek^[53]
• Crystal Lake Middle School in Pompano Beach^[54]

Zoned high schools

• Deerfield Beach High School^[55]
• Monarch High School in Coconut Creek^[56]
• Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach^[57]

Private schools

• Highlands Christian Academy
• St. Ambrose Catholic School

Charter school

• Somerset Academy Key^[58]

Infrastructure

Deerfield Beach Station, opened in 1926, currently serves Amtrak and Tri-Rail.

Transportation

• Deerfield Beach station served by Amtrak and Tri-Rail
• Broward County Transit

Media

Deerfield Beach is a part of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood media market, which is the twelfth largest radio market^[59] and the seventeenth largest television market^[60] in the United States. Its primary daily newspapers are the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and The Miami Herald, and their Spanish-language counterparts El Sentinel and El Nuevo Herald. Local Deerfield-based media includes The Observer, a local weekly newspaper, and the Deerfield Times, published by Sun-Sentinel.

Notable people

• Eli Abaev (born 1998), American-Israeli basketball player for Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• Jamie Foy, Professional Skateboarder, 2017 Thrasher Magazine Skater of the Year, Team USA for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo
• Jerry Jeudy, NFL player for the Cleveland Browns
• Canton Jones, Christian hip-hop artist
• BLP Kosher, Rapper
• James Pierre, NFL player for the Pittsburgh Steelers
• Jason Pierre-Paul, NFL player for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Denard Robinson, former NFL player for the Jacksonville Jaguars
• Devin Singletary, NFL player for the New York Giants
• Chaz Stevens, political activist
• Amadeo Trinchitella, political organizer and activist

Sister city

Deerfield Beach has one sister city,^[61] as designated by Sister Cities International: Acre, Israel.

Notes

1. Language spoken at home among residents at least five years old; only languages (or language groups) which at least 2% of residents have spoken at any time since 1980 are mentioned
2. Refers to 2013–2017 American Community Survey data;^[35] the last Decennial Census where language data was collected was in the 2000 census
3. Refers to 2008–2012 American Community Survey data;^[36] the last Decennial Census where language data was collected was in the 2000 census
4. Not counted separately; aggregated into "Other" category
5. Refers to 2013–2017 American Community Survey data;^[40][41] the last Decennial Census where foreign-born population data was collected was in the 2000 census
6. Refers to 2008–2012 American Community Survey data;^[42][43] the last Decennial Census where foreign-born population data was collected was in the 2000 census
7. Only countries of birth which at least 2% of residents were born in at any time since 1980 are mentioned
8. Data from the 1980 census and 1990 census pertains to residents born anywhere in the Soviet Union, not just Russia