Best PlacesGadsden County, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Gadsden County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Gadsden County ranks 2,953rd of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Gadsden 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 Gadsden County
The parts of Gadsden 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.
Havana
Crime runs lower, local pay stretches further, and more adults hold degrees.
Midway
Fewer homes sit empty and heat risk is lower.
Quincy
More households have young kids, though fewer residents vote.
Chattahoochee
Homes cost less, though incomes run lower.
Scores across Gadsden County run from about the 2nd to the 43rd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Gadsden County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gadsden County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 84% of counties
- Cheap childcare$575 a month, better than 76% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 76% of counties
Where Gadsden County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 5% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 7% of counties
- Household income$50,826 median, better than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Gadsden County
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gadsden County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,826, 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 Gadsden County's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Gadsden County
Gadsden County 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 Gadsden County.
Who works in Gadsden County, and how
Work in Gadsden County centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Gadsden County
Gadsden County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 67% of counties and more parkland per resident than 67% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Gadsden County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Gadsden County growing, and who is moving in?
Gadsden County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Tallahassee, FL metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Gadsden County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Gadsden County, month by month
Gadsden County sees roughly 90 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 53° | 40° |
| April | 83° | 69° | 54° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 86° | 72° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Gadsden County
The nearest airport, Tallahassee International, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 172 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gadsden County
Schools across Gadsden County average a C, better than 35% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sneads Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Canopy Oaks Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Gadsden Elementary Magnet SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Deerlake Middle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Grand Ridge SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- West Gadsden Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Lawton Chiles High SchoolA · 72% proficient
- Liberty County High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Sneads High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gadsden County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gadsden 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 Gadsden County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Gadsden County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Gadsden County
Is Gadsden County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gadsden County ranks 2,953rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and tree cover, 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 Gadsden County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $172,925. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $50,826 median income, cost of living beats 7% of counties.
Is Gadsden County safe?
Gadsden County is safer than 6% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $413 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Gadsden County?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 68 with lows near 40. That works out to about 90 pleasant days a year, more than 52% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Gadsden County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Havana, Midway, and Quincy. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Gadsden County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gadsden County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gadsden 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.
Gadsden County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gadsden County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gadsden County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gadsden County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gadsden County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gadsden 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.