Best PlacesClearwater, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Clearwater, 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.
Clearwater ranks 243rd of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 5 minutes away. Its strengths are state infrastructure and low taxes. The cost shows up in summer heat, empty homes, and car insurance costs.
The best neighborhoods in Clearwater
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 Clearwater
The parts of Clearwater, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the city.
Northwood Estates, Clubhouse Estates & Inverness Park
Fewer homes sit empty, more adults hold degrees, and local pay stretches further.
Imperial Park & Pride
Incomes run higher, though fewer households have young kids.
Bay Aristocrat Village, Seville & Imperial Cove
Prices have run up less, though streets are more car-dependent.
Woodgate
Crime runs lower.
Central Clearwater
Health care is harder to reach.
Eastern Clearwater
Biking is better, though fewer residents vote.
Northwestern Clearwater
Advertised internet is faster.
Normandy Park
Transit reaches more jobs.
Country Club Estates
Health outcomes score lower and it is noisier.
Scores across Clearwater run from about the 17th to the 93rd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Clearwater's strengths and weaknesses
Clearwater lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. State infrastructure, low taxes, and biking carry most of that.
The one real hole is summer heat, near the bottom of the country. Empty homes and car insurance costs also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Clearwater ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of cities
- BikingBetter than 88% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 83% of cities
- QuietBetter than 79% of cities
Where Clearwater ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 9% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 13% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 18% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Clearwater
A household needs to earn about $88,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clearwater home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $73,206, 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 Clearwater's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 Clearwater
Clearwater 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 Clearwater.
Who works in Clearwater, and how
Work in Clearwater 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 72%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Clearwater
Clearwater has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of cities and more parkland per resident than 90% of cities. The coast is about 5 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Clearwater and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Clearwater, month by month
Clearwater sees roughly 151 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 73, with lows near 52. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 73° | 61° | 52° |
| April | 85° | 74° | 65° |
| July | 93° | 84° | 77° |
| October | 87° | 78° | 71° |
Flying in and out of Clearwater
The nearest airport, St Pete-Clearwater International, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Tampa International, about 13 miles away.
The best schools in and around Clearwater
Schools across Clearwater average a B, better than 69% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Plato Academy ClearwaterA · 70% proficient
- Leila Davis Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Safety Harbor Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clearwater Fundamental Middle SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
- Palm Harbor Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Dunedin Highland Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Largo High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Countryside High SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Dunedin High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clearwater school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clearwater 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 Clearwater against the other 444 cities.
Who Clearwater suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Clearwater
Is Clearwater a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clearwater ranks 243rd of 445 cities. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and biking, and lowest on summer heat and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Clearwater expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $342,109. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $73,206 median income, cost of living beats 38% of cities.
Is Clearwater safe?
Yes, Clearwater is safer than 62% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $236 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Clearwater?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 73 with lows near 52. That works out to about 151 pleasant days a year, more than 73% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Clearwater?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Northwood Estates, Clubhouse Estates & Inverness Park, Imperial Park & Pride, and Bay Aristocrat Village, Seville & Imperial Cove. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Clearwater good for families?
Schools beat 69% of cities, crime safety beats 62%, and childcare runs $1,048 a month.
Is Clearwater good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 38% of cities, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 67% of cities. About 19% of workers already work from home.
Compare Clearwater with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clearwater. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clearwater 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.
Clearwater detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clearwater: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clearwater: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clearwater: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clearwater: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clearwater 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.