Best PlacesAlafaya, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Alafaya, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Alafaya ranks 135th of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 45 minutes away. Its strengths are state infrastructure and low taxes. The cost shows up in walkability, car insurance costs, and summer heat.
The best neighborhoods in Alafaya
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 Alafaya
The parts of Alafaya, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the city.
Avalon Park Northwest Village, Spring Isle & Avalon Park Village
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more households have young kids.
Avalon Park South & Live Oak Village in Avalon Park
Heat risk is lower and schools score higher.
Andover Lakes
Biking is worse and more homes sit empty.
Stonemeade
It is quieter, though transit reaches fewer jobs.
Legacy Place, Huckleberry Fields & Cypress Springs
More residents vote and prices have run up less.
Quail Hollow At Rio Pinar & Rio Pinar Woods
Sussex Place, Arbor Ridge North & Watermill
Crime runs higher and health care is harder to reach.
Eden Acres, Club at Orlando & University Park Plaza
Fewer adults hold degrees and tree cover is thinner.
Stonebridge, Goldenrod Center & Pershing
Homes cost less, though health outcomes score lower.
Scores across Alafaya run from about the 16th to the 98th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Alafaya's strengths and weaknesses
Alafaya lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. State infrastructure, low taxes, and quiet carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Walkability, car insurance costs, and summer heat hold the score down. That one depends almost entirely on which part you pick, which is what the map below settles.
Where Alafaya ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of cities
- QuietBetter than 89% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 85% of cities
- School gradeB+, better than 82% of cities
Where Alafaya ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 8% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 11% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 18% of cities
- Short commute29.8 minutes each way, better than only 21% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 25% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Alafaya
A household needs to earn about $96,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Alafaya home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $93,034; 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 Alafaya's effective rate of 0.78%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Alafaya
Alafaya runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Alafaya.
Who works in Alafaya, and how
Work in Alafaya centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Alafaya
Alafaya has more parkland per resident than 75% of cities. The coast is about 45 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Alafaya and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Alafaya, month by month
Alafaya sees roughly 131 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 74, with lows near 50. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 74° | 61° | 50° |
| April | 86° | 74° | 64° |
| July | 94° | 83° | 76° |
| October | 87° | 77° | 69° |
Flying in and out of Alafaya
Orlando International sits about 9 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 28.1 million passengers in 2025, with 223 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Alafaya
Schools across Alafaya average a B+, better than 82% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Avalon ElementaryA+ · 76% proficient
- Stone Lakes ElementaryA+ · 74% proficient
- Timber Lakes ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Avalon MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
- Lake Nona MiddleA · 67% proficient
- Timber Springs MiddleA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Pinecrest Collegiate AcademyA · 75% proficient
- Timber Creek HighA− · 66% proficient
- Lake Nona HighA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Alafaya school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Alafaya 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 Alafaya against the other 444 cities.
Who Alafaya suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 78% of cities and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Alafaya
Is Alafaya a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Alafaya ranks 135th of 445 cities. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and quiet, and lowest on walkability 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 Alafaya expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $367,997. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $93,034 median income, cost of living beats 78% of cities.
Is Alafaya safe?
Yes, Alafaya is safer than 74% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $205 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Alafaya?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 74 with lows near 50. That works out to about 131 pleasant days a year, more than 64% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Alafaya?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Avalon Park Northwest Village, Spring Isle & Avalon Park Village, Avalon Park South & Live Oak Village in Avalon Park, and Andover Lakes. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Alafaya good for families?
Schools beat 82% of cities, crime safety beats 74%, and childcare runs $908 a month.
Is Alafaya good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 78% of cities, though advertised internet speeds beat only 41% of cities. About 19% of workers already work from home.
Compare Alafaya with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Alafaya. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Alafaya 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.
Alafaya detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Alafaya: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Alafaya: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Alafaya: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Alafaya: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Alafaya 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.