Best PlacesFlorida Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Florida, 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.
Florida ranks 36th of 50 U.S. states on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 25 minutes away. Its strengths are state infrastructure and low taxes. The cost shows up in disaster risk, summer heat, and car insurance costs.
The best neighborhoods in Florida
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 Florida
The counties of Florida, grouped by direction and ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the state.
Sarasota County
Crime runs lower, health care is easier to reach, and more adults hold degrees.
Brevard County, Seminole County & Indian River County
Schools score higher and local pay stretches further.
Duval County & Marion County
Heat risk is lower, though big-city amenities are further off.
Hillsborough County, Pinellas County & Pasco County
Scores close to Duval County & Marion County, except that disaster risk is higher here.
Volusia County
Tree cover is thicker, though fewer households have young kids.
Orange County, Polk County & Osceola County
Scores close to Volusia County, except that fewer residents vote here.
Lee County & Collier County
More homes sit empty and streets are more car-dependent.
Escambia County, Leon County & Alachua County
Homes cost less, though biking is worse.
Miami-Dade County, Broward County & Palm Beach County
Transit reaches more jobs, though it is noisier.
Florida shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Florida's strengths and weaknesses
Florida lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. State infrastructure is the standout, in the top 1% of states. Low taxes and fast internet follow.
The one real hole is disaster risk, near the bottom of the country. Summer heat and car insurance costs also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Florida ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of states
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 91% of states
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of states
- Local economyBetter than 86% of states
- School gradeB, better than 83% of states
Where Florida ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of states
- Heat safetyBetter than only 3% of states
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 7% of states
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of states
- Short commute28.0 minutes each way, better than only 13% of states
What it costs to buy a home in Florida
A household needs to earn about $103,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Florida home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $83,863, 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 Florida'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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Florida
Florida runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Florida.
Who works in Florida, and how
Work in Florida 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 79%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Florida
Florida has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most states and less parkland per resident than most states. Florida has 1,350 miles of ocean coastline. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Florida and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Florida, month by month
Florida sees roughly 115 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 74, with lows near 50. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 74° | 61° | 50° |
| April | 86° | 74° | 64° |
| July | 94° | 83° | 76° |
| October | 87° | 77° | 69° |
The best schools in and around Florida
Schools across Florida average a B, better than 83% of states.
Top elementary schools
- Jacksonville Beach Elementary SchoolA+ · 99% proficient
- Tarpon Springs Fundamental EleA+ · 92% proficient
- Robert L. Stevenson Elementary SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
Top middle schools
- Doral Academy Of TechnologyA+ · 98% proficient
- Okaloosa Stemm CenterA+ · 97% proficient
- Orlando Gifted AcademyA+ · 94% proficient
Top high schools
- West Shore Junior/senior High SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
- Edgewood Jr/sr High SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
- Florida Southwestern Collegiate High SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Florida school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Florida 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 Florida against the other 49 states.
Who Florida suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Florida
Is Florida a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Florida ranks 36th of 50 states. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and fast internet, and lowest on disaster risk and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Florida expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $396,747. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $83,863 median income, cost of living beats 29% of states.
Is Florida safe?
Yes, Florida is safer than 57% of states. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $230 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Florida?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 74 with lows near 50. That works out to about 115 pleasant days a year, more than 70% of states.
What are the best areas in Florida?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Sarasota County, Brevard County, Seminole County & Indian River County, and Duval County & Marion County. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Florida good for families?
Schools beat 83% of states, crime safety beats 57%, and childcare runs $917 a month.
Is Florida good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 29% of states, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 87% of states. About 16% of workers already work from home.
Compare Florida with other states
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Florida. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Florida 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.
Florida detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Florida: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Florida: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Florida: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Florida: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Florida 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.
- 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.