Best PlacesCentral Oak Park, St. Petersburg, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg, 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 Oak Park, St. Petersburg ranks 2,755th 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 Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg
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 Oak Park, St. Petersburg's strengths and weaknesses
Where Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than 89% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 159 pleasant days a year, better than 79% of neighborhoods
Where Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 9% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 26% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $79,578; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Oak Park, St. Petersburg'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 Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg
Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg 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 Oak Park, St. Petersburg.
Who works in Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg, and how
Work in Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg
The coast is about 7 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg, month by month
Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg sees roughly 159 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 71, with lows near 54. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 71° | 61° | 54° |
| April | 83° | 75° | 68° |
| July | 91° | 84° | 78° |
| October | 86° | 78° | 73° |
Flying in and out of Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg
The nearest airport, St Pete-Clearwater International, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Tampa International, about 17 miles away.
The best schools in and around Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg
Schools across Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg average a C+, better than 55% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Azalea Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Westgate Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Northwest Elementary SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tyrone Middle SchoolC · 31% proficient
- John Hopkins Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Azalea Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- St. Petersburg High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Dixie M. Hollins High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Gibbs High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg 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 Oak Park, St. Petersburg against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg
Is Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg ranks 2,755th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and quiet, 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 Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $331,183. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $79,578 median income, cost of living beats 59% of neighborhoods.
Is Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg safe?
Yes, Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg is safer than 55% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $282 per resident a year.
Compare Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg 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 Oak Park, St. Petersburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Central Oak Park, St. Petersburg 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.