Best PlacesHarlem, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Harlem, 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.
Harlem ranks 30,685th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Harlem
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.
Harlem's strengths and weaknesses
Where Harlem ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 96% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 163 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 88% of towns
Where Harlem ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Harlem
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Harlem home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,666, 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 Harlem's effective rate of 0.77%, 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 Harlem
Harlem 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 Harlem.
Who works in Harlem, and how
Work in Harlem centers on agriculture & forestry and public administration. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Harlem
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Harlem.
What the weather is like in Harlem, month by month
Harlem sees roughly 163 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 Harlem
Southwest Florida International sits about 47 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 Harlem
Schools across Harlem average a B−, better than 57% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Central Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Eastside Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Moore Haven Elementary SchoolD · 17% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clewiston Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Clewiston High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Moore Haven Middle High School.D+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Harlem school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Harlem 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 Harlem against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Harlem
Is Harlem a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Harlem ranks 30,685th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, a strong job market, and low taxes, and lowest on crime and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Harlem expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $157,779. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $83,666 median income, cost of living beats 64% of towns.
Is Harlem safe?
Harlem is safer than 2% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $615 per resident a year.
Compare Harlem with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Harlem. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Harlem 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.
Harlem detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Harlem: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Harlem: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Harlem: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Harlem: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Harlem 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.