Best PlacesGoldenrod, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Goldenrod, 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.
Goldenrod ranks 9,654th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Goldenrod
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.
Goldenrod's strengths and weaknesses
Where Goldenrod ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
Where Goldenrod ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 9% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 11% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Goldenrod
A household needs to earn about $93,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Goldenrod home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $74,937, 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 Goldenrod's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Goldenrod
Goldenrod runs younger 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 Goldenrod.
Who works in Goldenrod, and how
Work in Goldenrod centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Goldenrod
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Goldenrod.
What the weather is like in Goldenrod, month by month
Goldenrod sees roughly 131 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° |
Flying in and out of Goldenrod
The nearest airport, Orlando Sanford International, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Orlando International, about 13 miles away.
The best schools in and around Goldenrod
Schools across Goldenrod average an A−, better than 81% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lakemont ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Eastbrook Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Aloma ElementaryB+ · 51% proficient
Top middle schools
- Maitland MiddleA · 60% proficient
- Glenridge MiddleA− · 57% proficient
- Tuskawilla Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Winter Park HighA− · 61% proficient
- Lake Howell High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Goldenrod school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Goldenrod 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 Goldenrod against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Goldenrod
Is Goldenrod a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Goldenrod ranks 9,654th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, biking, and transit, and lowest on car insurance costs and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Goldenrod expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $362,909. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $74,937 median income, cost of living beats 56% of towns.
Is Goldenrod safe?
Goldenrod is safer than 45% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $210 per resident a year.
Compare Goldenrod with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Goldenrod. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Goldenrod 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.
Goldenrod detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Goldenrod: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Goldenrod: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Goldenrod: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Goldenrod: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Goldenrod 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.