Best PlacesDowntown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale, 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.
Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale ranks 1,810th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale
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.
Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale's strengths and weaknesses
Where Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
Where Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale
A household needs to earn about $163,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $131,448, 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 Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale's effective rate of 1.12%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale
Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale.
Who works in Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale, and how
Work in Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale centers on professional & technical and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 53%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 19%
Life in Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale
Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 4 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale, month by month
Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 78, with lows near 60. The comfortable stretch runs November through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 78° | 69° | 60° |
| April | 85° | 77° | 71° |
| July | 91° | 84° | 78° |
| October | 87° | 80° | 74° |
Flying in and out of Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International sits about 3 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 15.7 million passengers in 2025, with 180 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale
Schools across Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale average a B, better than 73% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Nova Blanche Forman ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nova Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale 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 Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale
Is Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale ranks 1,810th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on walkability, state infrastructure, and low taxes, and lowest on empty homes and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $596,387. The overall cost of living runs about 34% above the national average. Set against a $131,448 median income, cost of living beats 76% of neighborhoods.
Is Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale safe?
Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale is safer than 31% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $379 per resident a year.
Compare Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale 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.
Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale 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.