Best PlacesDarby, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Darby, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Darby ranks 6,494th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Darby
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.
Darby's strengths and weaknesses
Where Darby ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 95% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 143 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of towns
Where Darby ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of towns
- Short commute37.8 minutes each way, better than only 8% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Darby
A household needs to earn about $115,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Darby home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $97,322, 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 Darby's effective rate of 0.82%, 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 Darby
Darby 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 Darby.
Who works in Darby, and how
Work in Darby centers on education and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Darby
The coast is about 38 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Darby, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Darby, month by month
Darby sees roughly 143 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 73, with lows near 45. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 73° | 58° | 45° |
| April | 86° | 72° | 57° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 88° | 74° | 63° |
Flying in and out of Darby
Tampa International sits about 30 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.1 million passengers in 2025, with 135 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Darby
Schools across Darby average a B, better than 70% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- San Antonio Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Dr. Mary Giella Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Crews Lake Middle School.B · 44% proficient
- Pasco Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Land O' Lakes High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
- Pasco High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Darby school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Darby 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 Darby against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Darby
Is Darby a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Darby ranks 6,494th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, state infrastructure, 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 Darby expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $438,173. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $97,322 median income, cost of living beats 90% of towns.
Is Darby safe?
Yes, Darby is safer than 100% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $68 per resident a year.
Compare Darby with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Darby. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Darby 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.
Darby detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Darby: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Darby: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Darby: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Darby: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Darby 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.