Panama City-Panama City Beach

The Panama City-Panama City Beach metropolitan area receives an AI displacement risk score of 71 out of 100, placing it at rank #168 among 393 US metros. This is 1 points above the national metro average of 70, reflecting moderately elevated risk. An estimated 27,820 workers — 31.7% of the workforce — hold positions in occupations highly susceptible to automation.

The primary driver of risk in Panama City-Panama City Beach is the concentration of employment in Retail, an industry where routine tasks, data processing, and customer interactions are increasingly being handled by AI systems. Among the most at-risk occupations in the area are Retail Salespersons, Cashiers, Fast Food and Counter Workers, and Waiters and Waitresses — roles where advances in natural language processing, computer vision, and robotic process automation are already reducing demand. The metro's heavy service sector concentration (36.0% vs 31.3% nationally) amplifies vulnerability, as customer-facing and back-office roles are prime targets for AI automation.

Average wages in the metro ($55K) are close to the national average, creating neither a strong pull toward nor away from automation investment. Workers in this metro should consider developing complementary AI skills, exploring transition paths to lower-risk occupations, and leveraging local workforce development resources.