Best PlacesGlades County, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Glades County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Glades County ranks 2,817th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Glades 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.
Glades County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Glades County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 160 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of counties
- QuietBetter than 89% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 87% of counties
Where Glades County ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 2% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 3% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Glades County
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Glades County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $54,807, 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 Glades County's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 Glades County
Glades County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Glades County.
Who works in Glades County, and how
Work in Glades County centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Glades County
Glades County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Glades County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Glades County growing, and who is moving in?
Glades County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Miami, FL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Glades County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Glades County, month by month
Glades County sees roughly 160 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 74, with lows near 51. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 74° | 61° | 51° |
| April | 86° | 72° | 60° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 73° |
| October | 86° | 75° | 68° |
Flying in and out of Glades County
Southwest Florida International sits about 43 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 Glades County
Schools across Glades County average a C+, better than 46% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- West Glades SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Pemayetv Emahakv Charter Our Way SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- South Elementary SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clewiston Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Osceola Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Labelle Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Labelle High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Okeechobee High SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Clewiston High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Glades County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Glades 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 Glades County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Glades County
Is Glades County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Glades County ranks 2,817th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and the weather, and lowest on education levels and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Glades County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $142,286. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $54,807 median income, cost of living beats 14% of counties.
Is Glades County safe?
Glades County is safer than 24% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $284 per resident a year.
Compare Glades County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Glades County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Glades 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.
Glades County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Glades County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Glades County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Glades County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Glades County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Glades 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.