Best PlacesFlagler County, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Flagler County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Flagler County ranks 517th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 12 minutes away. Its strengths are low crime and state infrastructure. The cost shows up in summer heat, car insurance costs, and disaster risk.
The best neighborhoods in Flagler County
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.
The best areas in Flagler County
The parts of Flagler County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Flagler Beach
More households have young kids, prices have run up less, and tree cover is thicker.
Palm Coast
It is noisier.
Bunnell
Local pay stretches less far and more homes sit empty.
Flagler County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 14% of the country and others in the top 4%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Flagler County's strengths and weaknesses
Flagler County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Low crime is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. State infrastructure and low taxes follow.
The one real hole is summer heat, near the bottom of the country. Car insurance costs and disaster risk also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Flagler County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 93% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 152 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of counties
Where Flagler County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 18% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 21% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Flagler County
A household needs to earn about $98,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Flagler County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $80,236, 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 Flagler County's effective rate of 0.76%, 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 Flagler County
Flagler County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Flagler County.
Who works in Flagler County, and how
Work in Flagler County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Flagler County
Flagler County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. The coast is about 12 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Flagler County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Flagler County growing, and who is moving in?
Flagler County has grown about 34% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from New York, NY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Flagler County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Flagler County, month by month
Flagler County sees roughly 152 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 67, with lows near 48. The comfortable stretch runs October through May.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 67° | 57° | 48° |
| April | 79° | 70° | 61° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 73° |
| October | 82° | 74° | 67° |
Flying in and out of Flagler County
The nearest airport, Daytona Beach International, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 73 miles away.
The best schools in and around Flagler County
Schools across Flagler County average a B+, better than 83% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Old Kings Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Belle Terre Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Lewis E. Wadsworth ElementaryA− · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Indian Trails Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Buddy Taylor Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Iflagler-virtual FranchiseB+ · 57% proficient
- Matanzas High SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Flagler-palm Coast High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Flagler County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Flagler County 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 Flagler County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Flagler County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 74% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 20% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 92% of counties and health care access beats 89%.
Common questions about living in Flagler County
Is Flagler County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Flagler County ranks 517th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, state infrastructure, and low taxes, and lowest on summer heat and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Flagler County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $378,499. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $80,236 median income, cost of living beats 74% of counties.
Is Flagler County safe?
Yes, Flagler County is safer than 100% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $114 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Flagler County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 67 with lows near 48. That works out to about 152 pleasant days a year, more than 92% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Flagler County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Flagler Beach, Palm Coast, and Bunnell. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Flagler County good for families?
Schools beat 83% of counties, crime safety beats 100%, and childcare runs $932 a month.
Is Flagler County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 74% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 90% of counties. About 20% of workers already work from home.
Compare Flagler County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Flagler County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Flagler County 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.
Flagler County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Flagler County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Flagler County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Flagler County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Flagler County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Flagler County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.