Best PlacesCedar Key, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cedar Key, 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.
Cedar Key ranks 42,547th 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 Cedar Key
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.
Cedar Key's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cedar Key ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 88% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 124 pleasant days a year, better than 82% of towns
Where Cedar Key ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cedar Key
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cedar Key home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $61,690, 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 Cedar Key's effective rate of 0.80%, 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 Cedar Key
Cedar Key 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 Cedar Key.
Who works in Cedar Key, and how
Work in Cedar Key centers on health care & social and arts & entertainment. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 45%
- Work from home 32%
- Transit, walk, or bike 23%
Life in Cedar Key
Cedar Key has more restaurants and bars per resident than 95% of towns. The coast is about 39 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Cedar Key and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Cedar Key, month by month
Cedar Key sees roughly 124 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 Cedar Key
The nearest airport, Gainesville Regional, is about 56 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Tampa International, about 88 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cedar Key
Schools across Cedar Key average a B−, better than 57% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Chiefland Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Romeo Elementary SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Yankeetown SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Crystal River High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Chiefland Middle High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Williston Middle High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cedar Key school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cedar Key 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 Cedar Key against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cedar Key
Is Cedar Key a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cedar Key ranks 42,547th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, quiet, and low taxes, 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 Cedar Key expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $292,504. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $61,690 median income, cost of living beats 20% of towns.
Is Cedar Key safe?
Cedar Key is safer than 7% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $454 per resident a year.
Compare Cedar Key with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cedar Key. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cedar Key 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.
Cedar Key detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cedar Key: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cedar Key: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cedar Key: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cedar Key: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cedar Key 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.