Best PlacesHardee County, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Hardee 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.
Hardee County ranks 2,631st 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 Hardee 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 Hardee County
The parts of Hardee 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.
Bowling Green
Homes cost less, heat risk is lower, and it is quieter.
Zolfo Springs
Incomes run higher, though fewer households have young kids.
Wauchula
Biking is better, though local pay stretches less far.
Scores across Hardee County run from about the 4th to the 50th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Hardee County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hardee County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 86% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 85% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 73% of counties
Where Hardee County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 2% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 7% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Hardee County
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hardee County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,202, 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 Hardee County's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 Hardee County
Hardee County runs younger than the country, 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 Hardee County.
Who works in Hardee County, and how
Work in Hardee County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Hardee County
Hardee County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Hardee County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Hardee County growing, and who is moving in?
Hardee County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Tampa, FL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Hardee County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Hardee County, month by month
Hardee County sees roughly 109 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 71, with lows near 51. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 71° | 60° | 51° |
| April | 84° | 73° | 62° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 74° |
| October | 85° | 76° | 69° |
Flying in and out of Hardee County
The nearest airport, Punta Gorda, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Tampa International, about 53 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hardee County
Schools across Hardee County average a B−, better than 65% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sun 'n Lake Elementary SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- Bowling Green Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Hilltop Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hill-gustat Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Avon Park Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Desoto Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Sebring High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Hardee Junior High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Hardee Senior High SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hardee County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hardee 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 Hardee County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Hardee County suits
Common questions about living in Hardee County
Is Hardee County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hardee County ranks 2,631st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and big-city access, and lowest on summer heat and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hardee County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $168,518. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $64,202 median income, cost of living beats 30% of counties.
Is Hardee County safe?
Hardee County is safer than 14% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $327 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hardee County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 71 with lows near 51. That works out to about 109 pleasant days a year, more than 67% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Hardee County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Bowling Green, Zolfo Springs, and Wauchula. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Hardee County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hardee County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hardee 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.
Hardee County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hardee County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hardee County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hardee County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hardee County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hardee 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.