Best PlacesGreen Cove Springs, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Green Cove Springs, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Green Cove Springs ranks 9,446th 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 Green Cove Springs
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.
Green Cove Springs' strengths and weaknesses
Where Green Cove Springs ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 89% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 86% of towns
Where Green Cove Springs ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 18% of towns
- Short commute30.8 minutes each way, better than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Green Cove Springs
A household needs to earn about $86,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Green Cove Springs home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $81,021; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Green Cove Springs' effective rate of 0.68%, 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 Green Cove Springs
Green Cove Springs's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Green Cove Springs.
Who works in Green Cove Springs, and how
Work in Green Cove Springs centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Green Cove Springs
The coast is about 37 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Green Cove Springs, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Green Cove Springs, month by month
Green Cove Springs 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 Green Cove Springs
Jacksonville International sits about 34 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 Green Cove Springs
Schools across Green Cove Springs average a B, better than 83% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Orange Park Elementary SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Rideout Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Shadowlawn Elementary SchoolA · 64% proficient
Top middle schools
- Green Cove Springs Junior High SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Lake Asbury Junior High SchoolA · 62% proficient
Top high schools
- Clay High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Palatka Jr - Sr High SchoolD · 21% proficient
- R. C. Bannerman Learning CenterD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Green Cove Springs school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Green Cove Springs 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 Green Cove Springs against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Green Cove Springs
Is Green Cove Springs a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Green Cove Springs ranks 9,446th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and walkability, 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 Green Cove Springs expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $334,458. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $81,021 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is Green Cove Springs safe?
Yes, Green Cove Springs is safer than 81% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $144 per resident a year.
Compare Green Cove Springs with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Green Cove Springs. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Green Cove Springs 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.
Green Cove Springs detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Green Cove Springs: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Green Cove Springs: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Green Cove Springs: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Green Cove Springs: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Green Cove Springs 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.