About Key West

The best way to understand our congregation is to understand the mystique that is Key West — because we reflect all that is our island home

Community Demographics

There really is such a thing as the Key West state of mind. Whether you were born here, first met Key West in 1970 or just a few weeks ago, those who love the island will never stray far. That Key West mystique is captured in every Jimmy Buffett song, in every step along the “Duval Crawl,” in every child who giggles joyfully in the Truman Waterfront Park’s splash pad, in every sunset sail or afternoon at the sand bar. That island dream brings hundreds of thousands to our tiny four-mile-by-two-mile island surrounded by the crystal blue waters of the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.

We are closer to Havana than to Miami. We are connected to the mainland by 150-plus-miles of electrical cords and water lines. We live in a place where when one says, “come visit,” everyone does.

Key West is not “the Keys,” although if you haven’t driven the Overseas Highway from end-to-end you might not understand the demographic and cultural differences that separate Key West from its island neighbors to the east. We are a city of 26,000 permanent residents and we welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. Tourism is the revenue stream that keeps folks employed and that makes us crazy when we can’t get from home to church in 10 minutes because of that scooter in front of us.

But…. We are not Disney World’s Key West. What folks often forget is that we are a real city with real people who work for a living, take their kids to school, argue politics, complain about taxes and too many cars and not enough parking spaces and health care that too frequently means an overnight trip to the mainland. We worry about what happens when we need assisted living. We scramble to pay the every-increasing rent and many of us work two or three jobs to make ends meet. We worry about climate change and sea-level rise in ways our off-island friends can’t imagine. Those are real things for us; we see the results every time it rains during King Tide time and the Peace Covenant parking lot looks more a lake than a lot.

And yet… We love our town. We love our community. And, we love our church. There is simply no better place – or church – on earth to call home.

Here are the highlights about Key West:

• The population will remain about the same over the next 10 years. We’ll remain at about 26,000 permanent residents. The same is true for household changes and changes in the numbers of families with children.
• We’re somewhat low on the religiosity index. Not a lot of us attend services on a regular basis nor do we have a church home.
• We are older than the rest of Florida. Our average age is 42 and we’re projected to get older overall, staying well ahead of the state average. And more of us are going to be 65-plus, while the percentage of 25-54-year-olds will decline.
• There are more men than women. About 45 percent of our island population is female. About 55 percent is male.
• We are less likely to live in a family household. While 80 percent of Floridians live in a family household, only 61 percent of Key West folks do. Thirty-seven percent of us live in non-family households, almost twice the rest of the state.
• We tend to have more household income. The average household income is $87,538 compared to the state at $70,942. But don’t let that confuse you. Our cost of housing is one of the top five most expensive in the country – both for purchase and for rental. Good thing Peace Covenant has a wonderful manse for our pastor and family.
• We tend to be more highly educated. In all categories from some college through graduate school, we are higher than the state average.
• Our poverty level is somewhat less than the state average.
• We are predominantly white-non-Hispanic. About 66 percent of Key West is white-non-Hispanic. Hispanic/Latino makes up about 21 percent and almost all of that number is of Cuban descent. African-Americans make up about 9.5 percent and that includes blacks of Caribbean descent.
• We are “Thriving boomers with full pockets and empty nests,” according to the demographers, followed by “significant singles with a Bohemian groove” and “significant singles and starters.”
• We rent our homes; we don’t own them. About 42 percent of us live in the homes we own. More than 57 percent rent the homes in which they live. That contrasts sharply with the state’s 67 percent owner-occupied home and 32 percent rentals.
• We work. Almost 63 percent are employed in the civilian labor force compared to the state average of 55 percent. Almost four percent are military, compare to the state at 0.37 percent. And we work primarily in entertainment services, like tourist attractions, retail and food preparation and service. The rest of us are in office administration, managerial roles and professional specialties.