Best PlacesChatmar, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Chatmar, 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.
Chatmar ranks 41,273rd 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 Chatmar
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.
Chatmar's strengths and weaknesses
Where Chatmar ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 86% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 130 pleasant days a year, better than 85% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 70% of towns
Where Chatmar ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Household income$44,222 median, better than only 7% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 7% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Chatmar
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Chatmar home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $44,222, 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 Chatmar's effective rate of 0.77%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Chatmar
Chatmar 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 Chatmar.
Who works in Chatmar, and how
Work in Chatmar centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Chatmar
The coast is about 43 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Chatmar, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Chatmar, month by month
Chatmar sees roughly 130 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 70, with lows near 45. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 70° | 56° | 45° |
| April | 84° | 71° | 58° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 85° | 73° | 64° |
Flying in and out of Chatmar
The nearest airport, Gainesville Regional, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Tampa International, about 77 miles away.
The best schools in and around Chatmar
Schools across Chatmar average a B−, better than 54% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Dunnellon Elementary SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dunnellon Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Dunnellon High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Chatmar school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Chatmar 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 Chatmar against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Chatmar
Is Chatmar a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Chatmar ranks 41,273rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and low crime, and lowest on summer heat and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Chatmar expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $156,800. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $44,222 median income, cost of living beats 8% of towns.
Is Chatmar safe?
Yes, Chatmar is safer than 86% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $128 per resident a year.
Compare Chatmar with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Chatmar. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Chatmar 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.
Chatmar detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Chatmar: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Chatmar: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Chatmar: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Chatmar: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Chatmar 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.