Best PlacesFruit Cove, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fruit Cove, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Fruit Cove ranks 67th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Fruit Cove
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.
Fruit Cove's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fruit Cove ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of cities
Where Fruit Cove ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 5% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 14% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 14% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 19% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Fruit Cove
A household needs to earn about $133,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fruit Cove home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $144,389, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Fruit Cove's effective rate of 0.73%, 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 Fruit Cove
Fruit Cove's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Fruit Cove.
Who works in Fruit Cove, and how
Work in Fruit Cove 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 72%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Fruit Cove
Fruit Cove has more parkland per resident than 78% of cities. The coast is about 30 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Fruit Cove and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Fruit Cove, month by month
Fruit Cove sees roughly 115 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 69, with lows near 46. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 69° | 57° | 46° |
| April | 84° | 72° | 62° |
| July | 94° | 83° | 76° |
| October | 84° | 75° | 67° |
Flying in and out of Fruit Cove
Jacksonville International sits about 28 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.7 million passengers in 2025, with 86 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Fruit Cove
Schools across Fruit Cove average an A+, better than 98% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Hickory Creek Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Julington Creek Elementary SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Patriot Oaks AcademyA+ · 81% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fruit Cove Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Switzerland Point Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
Top high schools
- Creekside High SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Bartram Trail High SchoolA · 76% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fruit Cove school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fruit Cove 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 Fruit Cove against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Fruit Cove suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 26% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 68% of cities, health care access beats 82%, and it is quieter than 93%.
Common questions about living in Fruit Cove
Is Fruit Cove a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fruit Cove ranks 67th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on good schools, what local pay buys, and low crime, and lowest on walkability and transit. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fruit Cove expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $513,540. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $144,389 median income, cost of living beats 98% of cities.
Is Fruit Cove safe?
Yes, Fruit Cove is safer than 96% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $112 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Fruit Cove?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 69 with lows near 46. That works out to about 115 pleasant days a year, more than 68% of cities.
Is Fruit Cove good for families?
Schools beat 98% of cities, crime safety beats 96%, and childcare runs $1,222 a month.
Compare Fruit Cove with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fruit Cove. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fruit Cove 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.
Fruit Cove detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fruit Cove: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fruit Cove: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fruit Cove: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fruit Cove: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fruit Cove 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.