Best PlacesHighland Oaks, St. Petersburg, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg, 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.
Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg ranks 4,108th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg
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.
Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg's strengths and weaknesses
Where Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 159 pleasant days a year, better than 79% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of neighborhoods
Where Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,518, 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 Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg's effective rate of 0.43%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg
Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg'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 Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg.
Who works in Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg, and how
Work in Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg centers on hospitality & food and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg
The coast is about 7 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg, month by month
Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg sees roughly 159 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 71, with lows near 54. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 71° | 61° | 54° |
| April | 83° | 75° | 68° |
| July | 91° | 84° | 78° |
| October | 86° | 78° | 73° |
Flying in and out of Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg
The nearest airport, St Pete-Clearwater International, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Tampa International, about 18 miles away.
The best schools in and around Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg
Schools across Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg average a C, better than 35% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- James B. Sanderlin K-8A · 63% proficient
- Lakeview Fundamental ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Melrose Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bay Point Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- John Hopkins Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Lakewood High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Gibbs High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg 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 Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg
Is Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg ranks 4,108th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on low property taxes, state infrastructure, and low taxes, and lowest on an overheated housing market and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $229,547. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $77,518 median income, cost of living beats 55% of neighborhoods.
Is Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg safe?
Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg is safer than 17% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $464 per resident a year.
Compare Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg 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.
Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Highland Oaks, St. Petersburg 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.