Best PlacesHobe Sound, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hobe Sound, 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.
Hobe Sound ranks 19,230th of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Hobe Sound
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.
Hobe Sound's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hobe Sound ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 88% of towns
- BikingBetter than 87% of towns
Where Hobe Sound ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cheap childcare$973 a month, better than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hobe Sound
A household needs to earn about $135,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hobe Sound home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $84,354, 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 Hobe Sound'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 and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hobe Sound
Hobe Sound runs older 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 Hobe Sound.
Who works in Hobe Sound, and how
Work in Hobe Sound 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 74%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Hobe Sound
The coast is about 10 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Hobe Sound, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Hobe Sound, month by month
Hobe Sound sees roughly 116 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 74, with lows near 58. The comfortable stretch runs November through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 74° | 66° | 58° |
| April | 83° | 76° | 69° |
| July | 91° | 83° | 77° |
| October | 85° | 79° | 74° |
Flying in and out of Hobe Sound
Palm Beach International sits about 29 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.3 million passengers in 2025, with 67 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Hobe Sound
Schools across Hobe Sound average a B, better than 66% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Citrus Grove ElementaryA · 66% proficient
- Crystal Lake Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Hobe Sound Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hidden Oaks Middle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Dr. David L. Anderson Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Murray Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Martin County High SchoolB+ · 56% proficient
- South Fork High SchoolB · 49% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hobe Sound school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hobe Sound 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 Hobe Sound against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Hobe Sound suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Hobe Sound
Is Hobe Sound a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hobe Sound ranks 19,230th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low crime, and low taxes, and lowest on summer heat and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hobe Sound expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $524,296. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $84,354 median income, cost of living beats 67% of towns.
Is Hobe Sound safe?
Yes, Hobe Sound is safer than 98% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $86 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hobe Sound?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 74 with lows near 58. That works out to about 116 pleasant days a year, more than 78% of towns.
Is Hobe Sound good for families?
Schools beat 66% of towns, crime safety beats 98%, and childcare runs $973 a month.
Compare Hobe Sound with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hobe Sound. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hobe Sound 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.
Hobe Sound detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hobe Sound: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hobe Sound: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hobe Sound: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hobe Sound: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hobe Sound 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.