Best PlacesAlachua County, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Alachua County, 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.
Alachua County ranks 809th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on state infrastructure and an educated workforce. The weaker spots are car insurance costs, summer heat, and disaster risk.
The best neighborhoods in Alachua County
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.
The best areas in Alachua County
The parts of Alachua County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Archer
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more households have young kids.
Newberry
Crime runs lower, though biking is worse.
Alachua & High Springs
More residents vote, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Gainesville
Health care is harder to reach and prices have run up more.
Hawthorne
Homes cost less, though health outcomes score lower.
Waldo
Tree cover is thicker, though heat risk is higher.
Alachua County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 2% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Alachua County's strengths and weaknesses
Alachua County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. State infrastructure is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. An educated workforce and transit follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Car insurance costs, summer heat, and disaster risk hold the score down. Cost swings more from one part of Alachua County to another than it does between Alachua County and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Alachua County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of counties
- TransitBetter than 97% of counties
- BikingBetter than 97% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of counties
Where Alachua County ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 10% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 13% of counties
- Cheap childcare$952 a month, better than only 21% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 24% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Alachua County
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Alachua County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $70,954; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Alachua County's effective rate of 0.97%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Alachua County
Alachua County runs younger 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 Alachua County.
Who works in Alachua County, and how
Work in Alachua County centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Alachua County
Alachua County has more late-night spots per resident than 80% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Alachua County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Alachua County growing, and who is moving in?
Alachua County has grown about 14% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Miami, FL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Alachua County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Alachua County, month by month
Alachua County sees roughly 106 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 70, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 70° | 55° | 42° |
| April | 84° | 70° | 55° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 85° | 72° | 61° |
Flying in and out of Alachua County
The nearest airport, Gainesville Regional, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 71 miles away.
The best schools in and around Alachua County
Schools across Alachua County average a B, better than 79% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Alachua Learning Academy ElementaryA+ · 80% proficient
- Healthy Learning Academy Charter SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Expressions Learning Arts AcademyA · 72% proficient
Top middle schools
- Alachua Learning Academy MiddleA · 67% proficient
- Oak View Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Howard W. Bishop Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- F. W. Buchholz High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
- Alachua Eschool (virtual Franchise)A− · 62% proficient
- Micanopy AcademyB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Alachua County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Alachua County 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 Alachua County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Alachua County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Alachua County
Is Alachua County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Alachua County ranks 809th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, an educated workforce, and transit, and lowest on car insurance costs and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Alachua County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $286,628. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $70,954 median income, cost of living beats 50% of counties.
Is Alachua County safe?
Alachua County is safer than 43% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $245 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Alachua County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 70 with lows near 42. That works out to about 106 pleasant days a year, more than 65% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Alachua County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Archer, Newberry, and Alachua & High Springs. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Alachua County good for families?
Schools beat 79% of counties, crime safety beats 43%, and childcare runs $952 a month.
Is Alachua County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 50% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 90% of counties. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Alachua County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Alachua County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Alachua County 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.
Alachua County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Alachua County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Alachua County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Alachua County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Alachua County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Alachua County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.