Best PlacesEllenton, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ellenton, 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.
Ellenton ranks 21,205th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Ellenton
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.
Ellenton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ellenton ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- TransitBetter than 96% of towns
- BikingBetter than 95% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 158 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of towns
Where Ellenton ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ellenton
A household needs to earn about $79,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ellenton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $72,532; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Ellenton's effective rate of 0.60%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ellenton
Ellenton runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ellenton.
Who works in Ellenton, and how
Work in Ellenton centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Ellenton
Ellenton has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of towns and more parkland per resident than 83% of towns. The coast is about 11 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Ellenton and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Ellenton, month by month
Ellenton sees roughly 158 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 74, with lows near 51. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 74° | 62° | 51° |
| April | 85° | 74° | 64° |
| July | 92° | 83° | 76° |
| October | 88° | 77° | 70° |
Flying in and out of Ellenton
The nearest airport, Sarasota/Bradenton International, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Tampa International, about 30 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ellenton
Schools across Ellenton average a B−, better than 64% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Annie Lucy Williams Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Freedom Elementary SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Virgil Mills Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Carlos E. Haile Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Buffalo Creek Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Booker Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Parrish Community High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Braden River High SchoolB+ · 56% proficient
- Manatee School For The ArtsB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ellenton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ellenton 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 Ellenton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ellenton
Is Ellenton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ellenton ranks 21,205th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and transit, 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 Ellenton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $311,568. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $72,532 median income, cost of living beats 46% of towns.
Is Ellenton safe?
Yes, Ellenton is safer than 64% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $181 per resident a year.
Compare Ellenton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ellenton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ellenton 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.
Ellenton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ellenton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ellenton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ellenton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ellenton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ellenton 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.