Best PlacesBay Colony, Fort Lauderdale, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale ranks 3,511th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods 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 Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale
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.
Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of neighborhoods
Where Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of neighborhoods
- Short commute30.4 minutes each way, better than only 17% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale
A household needs to earn about $153,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $82,531, 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 Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale's effective rate of 1.04%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale
Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale 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 Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale.
Who works in Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale, and how
Work in Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale centers on retail trade and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale
Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 1 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale, month by month
Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 78, with lows near 60. The comfortable stretch runs December through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 78° | 69° | 60° |
| April | 85° | 77° | 70° |
| July | 91° | 85° | 78° |
| October | 87° | 80° | 74° |
Flying in and out of Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale
The nearest airport, Fort Lauderdale Exec, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International, about 10 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale
Schools across Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale average a B, better than 73% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Nova Blanche Forman ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nova Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale 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 Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale
Is Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale ranks 3,511th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and a strong job market, and lowest on summer heat and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $565,341. The overall cost of living runs about 18% above the national average. Set against a $82,531 median income, cost of living beats 58% of neighborhoods.
Is Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale safe?
Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale is safer than 51% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $289 per resident a year.
Compare Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale 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.
Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bay Colony, Fort Lauderdale 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.