Palm Bay is the closest major city to Patrick AFB, with Melbourne and Titusville coming in close behind. Palm Bay has about 104,000 people; Melbourne about 77,000, and Titusville about 45,000. These cities are in Brevard County, which has a population of about 545,000. Other nearby small communities include Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach, South Patrick, Satellite Beach, Palm Shores, and Rockledge.

Brevard County is a long, narrow county on the Florida shore. Palm Bay and Melbourne are both within a 30 minute to commute of Patrick AFB. Titusville is about 50 minutes away. All of the other communities above are within a typical 30 minute commute. The average commute in Brevard County is about 25 minutes.

Local Housing Rental Prices: The average apartment rent in the Brevard area ranges from $600 to $1000 per month, with a median of about $750 per month.

Local Housing Purchase Prices: The average price for a house in the Brevard area is about $178,000, compared to $184,000 for Florida.

Short Description of the Area: Brevard County is a long, narrow county in the middle of the east coast of Florida, known as the Space Coast. this area is not a major metropolitan area, but is well developed with a sizeable population.

Climate and Weather: The area has a warm, humid climate, with winter temperatures of low 70s to low 50s, and summer temperatures in the low 90s to low 70s. The area is generally sunny and warm, with a dry season from December to May and a wet season from June to November. Dry season still has 2 to 3 inches of rain a month, but the area dries enough that range fires are a possibility. Wet season has 4 to 7 inches of rain per month, but is still generally sunny. This area is sometimes subject to hurricanes, tropical storms, and other serious weather fronts can roll off the Atlantic, but truly large storms are rare (an emergency kit is still a very good idea). Small tornadoes also whip through from time to time. Usually, though the area is nice, if fairly humid.