Best PlacesBradford County, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Bradford 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.
Bradford County ranks 2,125th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Bradford 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 Bradford County
The parts of Bradford 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.
Lawtey
More households have young kids and heat risk is lower.
Raiford
Crime runs lower, though fewer residents vote.
Starke
Fewer homes sit empty, though it is noisier.
Scores across Bradford County run from about the 6th to the 60th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Bradford County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bradford County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 134 pleasant days a year, better than 85% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 81% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 79% of counties
Where Bradford County ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 7% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 7% of counties
- Short commute32.4 minutes each way, better than only 8% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Bradford County
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bradford County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,400, 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 Bradford County's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 Bradford County
Bradford County'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 Bradford County.
Who works in Bradford County, and how
Work in Bradford County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Bradford County
Bradford County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Bradford County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Bradford County growing, and who is moving in?
Bradford County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Jacksonville, FL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Bradford County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Bradford County, month by month
Bradford County sees roughly 134 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 44. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66° | 54° | 44° |
| April | 81° | 69° | 58° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 73° |
| October | 82° | 71° | 63° |
Flying in and out of Bradford County
The nearest airport, Gainesville Regional, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 46 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bradford County
Schools across Bradford County average a B−, better than 70% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Keystone Heights ElementaryA · 71% proficient
- Lake Butler Elementary SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Lawtey Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wilkinson Junior High SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Lake Butler Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Bradford Middle SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Union County High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Keystone Heights Junior/senior HighB+ · 51% proficient
- Bradford High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bradford County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bradford 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 Bradford County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Bradford County suits
Common questions about living in Bradford County
Is Bradford County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bradford County ranks 2,125th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and the weather, 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 Bradford County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $229,385. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $63,400 median income, cost of living beats 27% of counties.
Is Bradford County safe?
Yes, Bradford County is safer than 81% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $189 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Bradford County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 66 with lows near 44. That works out to about 134 pleasant days a year, more than 85% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Bradford County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Lawtey, Raiford, and Starke. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Bradford County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bradford County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bradford 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.
Bradford County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bradford County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bradford County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bradford County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bradford County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bradford 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.