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, 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.

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. In 1952, the original Deerfield Beach Pier was built of wood.

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%). Of Deerfield Beach's land mass 0.3 square miles is located on Deerfield Beach Island (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. The year-round average temperature is 77 °F (25.0 °C).

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).

Deerfield Beach falls under the USDA 10b Plant Hardiness zone.

Demographics

As of 2000, 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, 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%. It also has a significant percentage of Haitian and Haitian American residents in the United States, at 12.1%.

Arts and culture

Points of interest

Deerfield Beach Arboretum
Deerfield Island Park
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.

Elementary schools

Deerfield Beach Elementary School
Deerfield Park Elementary School
Park Ridge Elementary School
Quiet Waters Elementary School
Tedder Elementary School

Middle schools

Deerfield Beach Middle School
Lyons Creek Middle School in Coconut Creek
Crystal Lake Middle School in Pompano Beach

Zoned high schools

Deerfield Beach High School
Monarch High School in Coconut Creek
Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach

Private schools

Highlands Christian Academy
St. Ambrose Catholic School

Infrastructure

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 and the seventeenth largest television market 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