Best Places34785, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 34785, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
34785 ranks 17,925th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 34785
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
34785's strengths and weaknesses
Where 34785 ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 129 pleasant days a year, better than 81% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 78% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 73% of zip codes
Where 34785 ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 26% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 29% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 34785
A household needs to earn about $109,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 34785 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $75,082, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 34785's effective rate of 0.77%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 34785
34785 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 34785.
Who works in 34785, and how
Work in 34785 centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in 34785
34785 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 90% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 34785 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 34785, month by month
34785 sees roughly 129 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 72, with lows near 48. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 72° | 59° | 48° |
| April | 85° | 73° | 61° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 75° |
| October | 87° | 76° | 67° |
Flying in and out of 34785
The nearest airport, Orlando Sanford International, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Orlando International, about 51 miles away.
The best schools in and around 34785
Schools across 34785 average a B−, better than 54% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Lake Panasoffkee Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Wildwood Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Leesburg Elementary SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Sumter Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Carver Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Oak Park Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Wildwood Middle/ High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Leesburg High SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 34785 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
34785 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 34785 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 34785 suits
Retirees
The weather beats 81% of zip codes and health care access beats 65%.
Common questions about living in 34785
Is 34785 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 34785 ranks 17,925th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and the weather, and lowest on summer heat and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 34785 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $419,565. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $75,082 median income, cost of living beats 64% of zip codes.
Is 34785 safe?
34785 is safer than 44% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $234 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 34785?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 72 with lows near 48. That works out to about 129 pleasant days a year, more than 81% of zip codes.
Is 34785 good for families?
Schools beat 54% of zip codes, crime safety beats 44%, and childcare runs $940 a month.
Compare 34785 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 34785. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 34785 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
34785 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 34785: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 34785: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 34785: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 34785: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
34785 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.