Best PlacesAtlantic Beach, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Atlantic Beach, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Atlantic Beach ranks 603rd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Atlantic Beach
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.
Atlantic Beach's strengths and weaknesses
Where Atlantic Beach ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of cities
- QuietBetter than 85% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 79% of cities
Where Atlantic Beach ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 13% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 15% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 17% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 19% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 23% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Atlantic Beach
A household needs to earn about $123,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Atlantic Beach home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $102,847, 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 Atlantic Beach's effective rate of 0.70%, 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 Atlantic Beach
Atlantic Beach's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Atlantic Beach.
Who works in Atlantic Beach, and how
Work in Atlantic Beach centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Atlantic Beach
Atlantic Beach has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of cities and more parkland per resident than 80% of cities. The coast is about 4 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Atlantic Beach and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Atlantic Beach, month by month
Atlantic Beach sees roughly 131 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 47. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 57° | 47° |
| April | 81° | 71° | 61° |
| July | 92° | 83° | 76° |
| October | 82° | 75° | 68° |
Flying in and out of Atlantic Beach
Jacksonville International sits about 19 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.7 million passengers in 2025, with 86 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Atlantic Beach
Schools across Atlantic Beach average a C+, better than 40% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Atlantic Beach Elementary SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Anchor AcademyA · 65% proficient
- Mayport Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mayport Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Joseph Stilwell Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Atlantic Beach school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Atlantic Beach 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 Atlantic Beach against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Atlantic Beach suits
Families
Schools land around the 40th percentile and crime safety beats 95%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 71% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 17% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Atlantic Beach
Is Atlantic Beach a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Atlantic Beach ranks 603rd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and low crime, and lowest on car insurance costs and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Atlantic Beach expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $475,497. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $102,847 median income, cost of living beats 71% of cities.
Is Atlantic Beach safe?
Yes, Atlantic Beach is safer than 95% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $117 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Atlantic Beach?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 68 with lows near 47. That works out to about 131 pleasant days a year, more than 76% of cities.
Is Atlantic Beach good for families?
Schools beat 40% of cities, crime safety beats 95%, and childcare runs $921 a month.
Compare Atlantic Beach with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Atlantic Beach. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Atlantic Beach 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.
Atlantic Beach detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Atlantic Beach: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Atlantic Beach: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Atlantic Beach: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Atlantic Beach: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Atlantic Beach 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.