Next Election: March, 2023

The city is located in the northern part of Palm Beach County and contains large land areas to the west that are currently unpopulated. The majority of the residents live in planned developments in an area bordered roughly on the south by the Beeline Highway and north by Donald Ross Road, west to the C18 canal and east to Prosperity Farms Road (except for a small section that follows PGA Boulevard across the Intracoastal to US1. The boundary is irregular, with many pockets of unicorprorated neighborhoods, including some that are completely enclosed by the city.

Politically, the city is divided since the 2012 redistricting into 42 populated precincts and a few empty ones. The 5 seats on the City Council are elected city-wide for three year terms, and are term-limited to 2. The current terms for groups 2 and 4 began in 2019, while groups 1, 3 and 5 will be elected in 2020.

Palm Beach Gardens began in 1959, when John D. MacArthur announced plans to build a community of 55,000 people on 4000 acres of cattle ranches and pine forests. By 1970, the city had about 7000 people, but growth accelerated after the construction of the Gardens Mall in 1988. The 2010 census reported a population of 48,452, living in a land area of approximately 55 square miles. The 2016 census estimate is 53,778.

Of the 39 municipalities in Palm Beach County, Palm Beach Gardens ranks 7th in population, after West palm Beach, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Wellington and Jupiter.