Best PlacesCentral Beach, Fort Lauderdale, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Central Beach, 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.
Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale ranks 2,732nd of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Central Beach, 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.
Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale's strengths and weaknesses
Where Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than 93% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than 89% of neighborhoods
Where Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale
A household needs to earn about $179,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $101,115, 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 Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale's effective rate of 1.22%, 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 Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale
Central Beach, 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 Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale.
Who works in Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and how
Work in Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 52%
- Work from home 39%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale
Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale has more restaurants and bars per resident than 95% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 0 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale, month by month
Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale sees roughly 83 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 78, with lows near 60. The comfortable stretch runs November through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 78° | 69° | 60° |
| April | 85° | 77° | 71° |
| July | 91° | 84° | 78° |
| October | 87° | 80° | 74° |
Flying in and out of Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale
The nearest airport, Fort Lauderdale Exec, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International, about 6 miles away.
The best schools in and around Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale
Schools across Central Beach, 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 Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Central Beach, 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 Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale
Is Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale ranks 2,732nd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on health care access, state infrastructure, and low taxes, and lowest on empty homes and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $648,778. The overall cost of living runs about 30% above the national average. Set against a $101,115 median income, cost of living beats 67% of neighborhoods.
Is Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale safe?
Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale is safer than 39% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $346 per resident a year.
Compare Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Central Beach, 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.
Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Central Beach, Fort Lauderdale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Central Beach, 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.