Best PlacesCollier County, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Collier 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.
Collier County ranks 538th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $99,153, wages outrun the cost of living, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are summer heat, disaster risk, and an overheated housing market.
The best neighborhoods in Collier 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 Collier County
The parts of Collier 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.
Naples
More adults hold degrees, health care is easier to reach, and schools score higher.
Marco Island
More homes sit empty and fewer households have young kids.
Golden Gate
Heat risk is lower, though fewer residents vote.
Immokalee
It is quieter, though commutes are longer.
Collier County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 5% of the country and others in the top 2%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Collier County's strengths and weaknesses
Collier 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 one real hole is summer heat, near the bottom of the country. Disaster risk and an overheated housing market also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Collier County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of counties
- BikingBetter than 94% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of counties
Where Collier County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Collier County
A household needs to earn about $164,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Collier County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $99,153, 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 Collier County's effective rate of 0.59%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Collier County
Collier County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Collier County.
Who works in Collier County, and how
Work in Collier 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 76%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Collier County
Collier County has more late-night spots per resident than 78% of counties. The coast is about 15 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Collier County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Collier County growing, and who is moving in?
Collier County has grown about 20% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Fort Myers, FL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Collier County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Collier County, month by month
Collier County sees roughly 128 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 77, with lows near 56. The comfortable stretch runs November through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 77° | 66° | 56° |
| April | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| July | 92° | 83° | 76° |
| October | 88° | 79° | 72° |
Flying in and out of Collier County
Southwest Florida International sits about 23 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.5 million passengers in 2025, with 103 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Collier County
Schools across Collier County average an A−, better than 90% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Pelican Marsh Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Sea Gate Elementary SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
- Veterans Memorial Elementary SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Naples Middle SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Pine Ridge Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
- Oakridge Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
Top high schools
- Lorenzo Walker Technical High SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
- Marco Island AcademyA · 72% proficient
- Barron Collier High SchoolA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Collier County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Collier 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 Collier County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Collier County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 20% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 81% of counties and health care access beats 63%.
Common questions about living in Collier County
Is Collier County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Collier County ranks 538th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low crime, 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 Collier County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $647,170. The overall cost of living runs about 8% above the national average. Set against a $99,153 median income, cost of living beats 85% of counties.
Is Collier County safe?
Yes, Collier County is safer than 98% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $133 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Collier County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 77 with lows near 56. That works out to about 128 pleasant days a year, more than 81% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Collier County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Naples, Marco Island, and Golden Gate. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Collier County good for families?
Schools beat 90% of counties, crime safety beats 98%, and childcare runs $974 a month.
Is Collier County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 92% of counties. About 20% of workers already work from home.
Compare Collier County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Collier County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Collier 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.
Collier County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Collier County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Collier County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Collier County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Collier County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Collier 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.