Best PlacesEstero, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Estero, 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.
Estero ranks 1,002nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Estero
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.
Estero's strengths and weaknesses
Where Estero ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 84% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 83% of cities
Where Estero ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 1% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 3% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 16% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 17% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Estero
A household needs to earn about $141,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Estero home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $111,089, 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 Estero's effective rate of 0.78%, 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 Estero
Estero 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 Estero.
Who works in Estero, and how
Work in Estero 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 71%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Estero
Estero has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of cities and more parkland per resident than 91% of cities. The coast is about 18 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Estero and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Estero, month by month
Estero sees roughly 128 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 76, with lows near 53. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 76° | 64° | 53° |
| April | 87° | 75° | 63° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 75° |
| October | 88° | 78° | 70° |
Flying in and out of Estero
Southwest Florida International sits about 7 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.5 million passengers in 2025, with 103 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Estero
Schools across Estero average a B, better than 61% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Pinewoods Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Rayma C. Page Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Ray V. Pottorf Elementary SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lexington Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Estero High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- South Fort Myers High SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Estero school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Estero 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 Estero against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Estero suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 79% of cities and 25% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 73% of cities, health care access beats 92%, and it is quieter than 80%.
Common questions about living in Estero
Is Estero a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Estero ranks 1,002nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and health care access, and lowest on empty homes and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Estero expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $542,494. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $111,089 median income, cost of living beats 79% of cities.
Is Estero safe?
Yes, Estero is safer than 81% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $158 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Estero?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 76 with lows near 53. That works out to about 128 pleasant days a year, more than 73% of cities.
Is Estero good for families?
Schools beat 61% of cities, crime safety beats 81%, and childcare runs $820 a month.
Compare Estero with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Estero. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Estero 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.
Estero detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Estero: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Estero: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Estero: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Estero: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Estero 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.