Best PlacesBell, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bell, 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.
Bell ranks 30,381st of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Bell
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.
Bell's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bell ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 87% of towns
- Cheap childcare$551 a month, better than 87% of towns
- QuietBetter than 82% of towns
Where Bell ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 7% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 11% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Short commute33.7 minutes each way, better than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bell
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bell home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,571, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Bell's effective rate of 0.66%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bell
Bell runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bell.
Who works in Bell, and how
Work in Bell centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Bell
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bell.
What the weather is like in Bell, month by month
Bell sees roughly 116 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 53° | 41° |
| April | 83° | 69° | 56° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 86° | 72° | 61° |
Flying in and out of Bell
The nearest airport, Gainesville Regional, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 87 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bell
Schools across Bell average an A−, better than 87% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bell Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Trenton Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- High Springs Community SchoolA− · 61% proficient
Top middle schools
- Oak View Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Ruth Rains Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
Top high schools
- Gilchrist Virtual FranchiseA− · 65% proficient
- Bell High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Dixie County High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bell school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bell 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 Bell against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bell
Is Bell a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bell ranks 30,381st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and good schools, 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 Bell expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $174,088. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $64,571 median income, cost of living beats 27% of towns.
Is Bell safe?
Bell is safer than 41% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $243 per resident a year.
Compare Bell with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bell. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bell 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.
Bell detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bell: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bell: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bell: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bell: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bell 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.