[2] Bay County is included in the Panama City, Florida metropolitan area.

On February 12, 1913, representatives from five towns on St. Andrews Bay met in Panama City to select a name for a proposed new county.

The name Bay was selected because it was satisfactory to the majority of the citizens and descriptive of the territory that would be included.

Panama City was where Gideon v. Wainwright, a 1963 US Supreme Court decision that gave all persons accused of a crime the right to an attorney paid for by the government, originated.

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 175,216 people, 73,536 households, and 47,432 families residing in the county.

The county operates the Bayway (formerly Bay Town Trolley), which runs several routes in and around Panama City.

The Bay County Board of Commissioners is the system's governing authority and single administrative unit.