Best PlacesEglin Afb, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Eglin Afb, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Eglin Afb ranks 15,233rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Eglin Afb
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.
Eglin Afb's strengths and weaknesses
Where Eglin Afb ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Short commute13.8 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 97% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
Where Eglin Afb ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 8% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Eglin Afb
A household needs to earn about $119,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Eglin Afb home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $76,236, 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 Eglin Afb's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 Eglin Afb
Eglin Afb runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Eglin Afb.
Who works in Eglin Afb, and how
Work in Eglin Afb centers on hospitality & food and public administration. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Eglin Afb
Eglin Afb has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of towns. The coast is about 19 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Eglin Afb and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Eglin Afb, month by month
Eglin Afb sees roughly 101 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 52° | 43° |
| April | 77° | 68° | 58° |
| July | 90° | 83° | 75° |
| October | 82° | 72° | 62° |
Flying in and out of Eglin Afb
The nearest airport, Eglin AFB/Destin-Ft Walton Beach, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 224 miles away.
The best schools in and around Eglin Afb
Schools across Eglin Afb average an A−, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Eglin Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Lula J. Edge Elementary SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
- Addie R. Lewis SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Okaloosa Stemm CenterA+ · 97% proficient
- C. W. Ruckel Middle SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- Holley-navarre Middle SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Niceville Senior High SchoolA · 76% proficient
- Navarre High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Choctawhatchee Senior High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Eglin Afb school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Eglin Afb 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 Eglin Afb against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Eglin Afb
Is Eglin Afb a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Eglin Afb ranks 15,233rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on population health, state infrastructure, and short commutes, and lowest on disaster risk and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Eglin Afb expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $467,300. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $76,236 median income, cost of living beats 52% of towns.
Is Eglin Afb safe?
Eglin Afb is safer than 42% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $247 per resident a year.
Compare Eglin Afb with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Eglin Afb. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Eglin Afb 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.
Eglin Afb detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Eglin Afb: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Eglin Afb: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Eglin Afb: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Eglin Afb: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Eglin Afb 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.