Best PlacesCrestview, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Crestview metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime read low across the board, which puts the choice down to which part suits you. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by Ebyabe, CC BY-SA 3.0, via commons
Crestview ranks 162nd of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. It earns the spot by being affordable and steady rather than flashy: everyday costs run well below the national average, and crime is low. The trade is disaster risk: the nearest large city and its jobs, flights, and culture are a drive away.
The best neighborhoods in the Crestview metro
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 Crestview
The towns and districts of the Crestview metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Niceville
Local pay stretches further, more adults hold degrees, and incomes run higher.
Santa Rosa Beach
More homes sit empty and homes cost more.
Destin & Miramar Beach
Prices have run up more and fewer households have young kids.
Baker
Tree cover is thicker, though biking is worse.
Freeport
It is quieter, though commutes are longer.
Downtown Crestview
Crime runs lower, though streets are more car-dependent.
Wright, Fort Walton Beach & Mary Esther
Fewer residents vote and schools score lower.
DeFuniak Springs
Advertised internet is slower and health outcomes score lower.
Crestview shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 6% of the country and others in the top 4%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Crestview's strengths and weaknesses
Crestview lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. State infrastructure is the standout, in the top 3% of metro areas. Low taxes and good schools follow.
The one real hole is disaster risk, near the bottom of the country. Distance from a big city and empty homes also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Crestview ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of metro areas
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of metro areas
- School gradeA−, better than 93% of metro areas
- Local economyBetter than 90% of metro areas
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of metro areas
Where Crestview ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 3% of metro areas
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of metro areas
- Low vacancyBetter than only 11% of metro areas
- Heat safetyBetter than only 12% of metro areas
- Short commute27.1 minutes each way, better than only 12% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Crestview
A household needs to earn about $103,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Crestview home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $89,276, 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 Crestview's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 Crestview
Crestview'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 Crestview.
Who works in Crestview, and how
Work in Crestview 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 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Crestview
Crestview has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of metro areas and more parkland per resident than 94% of metro areas. The coast is about 22 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Crestview and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Crestview growing, and who is moving in?
Crestview has grown about 21% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Pensacola, FL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Crestview go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Crestview, month by month
Crestview sees roughly 105 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 50° | 40° |
| April | 80° | 66° | 54° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 84° | 69° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Crestview
The nearest airport, Eglin AFB/Destin-Ft Walton Beach, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 227 miles away.
The best schools in and around Crestview
Schools across Crestview average an A−, better than 93% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Mossy Head SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Antioch Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Northwood Elementary SchoolA− · 56% proficient
Top middle schools
- Davidson Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
- Shoal River Middle SchoolA− · 52% proficient
- Walton Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Niceville Senior High SchoolA · 76% proficient
- Crestview High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Walton High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Crestview school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Crestview 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 Crestview against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Crestview suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 78% of metro areas, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 12% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 63% of metro areas and it is quieter than 85%.
Common questions about living in Crestview
Is Crestview a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Crestview ranks 162nd of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and good schools, and lowest on disaster risk and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Crestview expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $406,227. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $89,276 median income, cost of living beats 78% of metro areas.
Is Crestview safe?
Yes, Crestview is safer than 89% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $157 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Crestview?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 64 with lows near 40. That works out to about 105 pleasant days a year, more than 63% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Crestview?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Niceville, Santa Rosa Beach, and Destin & Miramar Beach. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Crestview good for families?
Schools beat 93% of metro areas, crime safety beats 89%, and childcare runs $905 a month.
Is Crestview good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 78% of metro areas, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 80% of metro areas. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare Crestview with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Crestview. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Crestview 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.
Crestview detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Crestview: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Crestview: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Crestview: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Crestview: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Crestview 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.