Best PlacesClay County, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Clay County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Clay County ranks 378th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $91,512, everyday costs sit below the national average, and good schools ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are car insurance costs, noise, and long commutes.
The best neighborhoods in Clay 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 Clay County
The parts of Clay 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.
Fleming Island & Green Cove Springs
More adults hold degrees, schools score higher, and crime runs lower.
Middleburg & Asbury Lake
More households have young kids and heat risk is lower.
Oakleaf Plantation & Lakeside
Fewer homes sit empty, though it is noisier.
Bellair-Meadowbrook Terrace & Orange Park
Biking is better and streets are more walkable.
Keystone Heights
Homes cost less, though local pay stretches less far.
Clay County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 10% of the country and others in the top 3%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Clay County's strengths and weaknesses
Clay County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. State infrastructure is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Low crime and low taxes follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Car insurance costs, noise, and long commutes hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Clay County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of counties
Where Clay County ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 11% of counties
- Short commute31.3 minutes each way, better than only 11% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 14% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Clay County
A household needs to earn about $81,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clay County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $91,512, 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 Clay County's effective rate of 0.75%, 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 Clay County
Clay County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Clay County.
Who works in Clay County, and how
Work in Clay County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Clay County
Clay County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. The coast is about 40 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Clay County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Clay County growing, and who is moving in?
Clay County has grown about 19% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Jacksonville, FL metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Clay County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Clay County, month by month
Clay County sees roughly 115 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 54° | 42° |
| April | 82° | 69° | 56° |
| July | 95° | 82° | 72° |
| October | 85° | 72° | 62° |
Flying in and out of Clay County
Jacksonville International sits about 29 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.7 million passengers in 2025, with 86 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Clay County
Schools across Clay County average a B+, better than 86% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Orange Park Elementary SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Fleming Island Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Robert M. Paterson ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lakeside Junior High SchoolA+ · 71% proficient
- Green Cove Springs Junior High SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Lake Asbury Junior High SchoolA · 62% proficient
Top high schools
- Q.i. Roberts Jr. - Sr. High SchoolA · 76% proficient
- Fleming Island High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Oakleaf High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clay County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clay 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 Clay County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Clay County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Clay County
Is Clay County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clay County ranks 378th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low crime, and low taxes, and lowest on car insurance costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Clay County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $313,381. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $91,512 median income, cost of living beats 94% of counties.
Is Clay County safe?
Yes, Clay County is safer than 96% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $144 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Clay County?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 68 with lows near 42. That works out to about 115 pleasant days a year, more than 71% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Clay County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Fleming Island & Green Cove Springs, Middleburg & Asbury Lake, and Oakleaf Plantation & Lakeside. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Clay County good for families?
Schools beat 86% of counties, crime safety beats 96%, and childcare runs $844 a month.
Is Clay County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 88% of counties. About 16% of workers already work from home.
Compare Clay County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clay County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clay 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.
Clay County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clay County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clay County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clay County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clay County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clay 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.