Boca Raton, FL USDA Benefits

Boca Raton (/ˌboʊkə rəˈtoʊn/ BOH-kə rə-TOHN; Spanish: Boca Ratón [ˈboka raˈton]) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 97,422 in the 2020 census and it ranked as the 23rd-largest city in Florida in 2022. However, many people with a Boca Raton postal address live outside of municipal boundaries, such as in West Boca Raton. As a business center, the city also experiences significant daytime population increases. A part of South Florida, Boca Raton is 45 miles (72 km) north of Miami and is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which had a population of 6,012,331 as of 2015.

It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924 as “Bocaratone,” and then incorporated as “Boca Raton” on May 26, 1925. While the area had been inhabited by the Glades culture, as well as Spanish and later British colonial empires prior to its annexation by the United States, the city’s present form was developed predominantly by Addison Mizner starting in the 1920s. Mizner contributed to many buildings in the area having Mediterranean Revival or Spanish Colonial Revival architecture. Boca Raton also became a key city in the development of the early computer industry. The city is the birthplace of IBM’s first personal computer and various other technologies created by the company. Brightline has a Boca Raton station that provides passenger rail service to Miami and Orlando.

Still centered around luxury beach culture, the city today is dotted by many malls and shopping centers, including the Town Center at Boca Raton. The ODP Corporation, which operates Office Depot and OfficeMax, is headquartered here. Boca Raton is also home to the main campus of Florida Atlantic University and the Evert Tennis Academy, owned by former professional tennis player Chris Evert. The city has a strict development code for the size and types of commercial buildings, building signs, and advertisements that may be erected within the city limit, which has led to major thoroughfares without billboards and large advertisements, as well as increased green spaces on roads.

Boca Ratón translates to “Mouse Mouth” in English. Its name was originally labeled in the early European maps of the area as Boca de Ratones (Spanish for ‘Mouth of Mice’). Boca, meaning “mouth”, was a common term to describe an inlet on maps by sailors. The meaning of the word ratones for the area is less certain. Some claim that the word ratones appears in old Spanish maritime dictionaries referring to “rugged rocks or stony ground on the bottom of some ports and coastal outlets, where the cables rub against”. Thus, one possible translation of Boca Raton is “Rugged Inlet”. Others claim that ratones referred to pirates who hid out in the area, and thus the name could translate to “Pirates’ Inlet”.[citation needed]

City residents pronounce Raton as /rəˈtoʊn/. People not from the region often mispronounce this as /rəˈtɒn/ instead.