Best PlacesCharlotte County, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Charlotte County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Charlotte County ranks 1,243rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 26 minutes away. Its strengths are low crime and state infrastructure. The cost shows up in summer heat, disaster risk, and car insurance costs.
The best neighborhoods in Charlotte 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 Charlotte County
The parts of Charlotte 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.
Englewood & Rotonda
More residents vote, it is quieter, and more adults hold degrees.
Punta Gorda
Local pay stretches further, though more homes sit empty.
Harbour Heights
Scores close to Punta Gorda, except that incomes run lower here.
Cleveland & Charlotte Harbor
Homes cost less and more households have young kids.
Port Charlotte
Health care is harder to reach and schools score lower.
Scores across Charlotte County run from about the 4th to the 84th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Charlotte County's strengths and weaknesses
Charlotte County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Low crime is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. State infrastructure and low taxes follow.
The one real hole is summer heat, near the bottom of the country. Disaster risk and car insurance costs also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Charlotte County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 93% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 86% of counties
Where Charlotte County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 7% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 22% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 22% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Charlotte County
A household needs to earn about $92,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Charlotte County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $74,504, 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 Charlotte County's effective rate of 0.84%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Charlotte County
Charlotte County 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 Charlotte County.
Who works in Charlotte County, and how
Work in Charlotte County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Charlotte County
The coast is about 26 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Charlotte County, which the map shows.
Is Charlotte County growing, and who is moving in?
Charlotte County has grown about 26% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Sarasota, FL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Charlotte County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Charlotte County, month by month
Charlotte County sees roughly 127 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 77, with lows near 50. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 77° | 63° | 50° |
| April | 88° | 74° | 60° |
| July | 94° | 83° | 75° |
| October | 89° | 77° | 69° |
Flying in and out of Charlotte County
The nearest airport, Punta Gorda, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Southwest Florida International, about 36 miles away.
The best schools in and around Charlotte County
Schools across Charlotte County average a B+, better than 85% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sallie Jones Elementary SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Vineland Elementary SchoolA · 64% proficient
- East Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- L. A. Ainger Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Port Charlotte Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Punta Gorda Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Florida Southwestern Collegiate High SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Lemon Bay High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Charlotte High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Charlotte County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Charlotte 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 Charlotte County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Charlotte County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 17% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 80% of counties and health care access beats 93%.
Common questions about living in Charlotte County
Is Charlotte County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Charlotte County ranks 1,243rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, state infrastructure, 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 Charlotte County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $348,633. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $74,504 median income, cost of living beats 52% of counties.
Is Charlotte County safe?
Yes, Charlotte County is safer than 100% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $109 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Charlotte County?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 77 with lows near 50. That works out to about 127 pleasant days a year, more than 80% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Charlotte County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Englewood & Rotonda, Punta Gorda, and Harbour Heights. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Charlotte County good for families?
Schools beat 85% of counties, crime safety beats 100%, and childcare runs $886 a month.
Is Charlotte County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 52% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 74% of counties. About 17% of workers already work from home.
Compare Charlotte County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Charlotte County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Charlotte 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.
Charlotte County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Charlotte County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Charlotte County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Charlotte County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Charlotte County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Charlotte 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.