Best PlacesHomestead, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Homestead, 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.
Homestead ranks 425th of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 15 minutes away. Its strengths are quiet and a strong job market. The cost shows up in an overheated housing market, car insurance costs, and long commutes.
The best neighborhoods in Homestead
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.
Homestead's strengths and weaknesses
Homestead ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. Quiet is the standout, in the top 2% of cities. A strong job market and state infrastructure follow.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: an overheated housing market, car insurance costs, and long commutes all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where Homestead ranks high
- QuietBetter than 98% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 98% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of cities
- Cheap childcare$844 a month, better than 76% of cities
Where Homestead ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 3% of cities
- Short commute35.1 minutes each way, better than only 4% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 6% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Homestead
A household needs to earn about $110,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Homestead home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $74,224, 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 Homestead's effective rate of 0.90%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Homestead
Homestead 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 Homestead.
Who works in Homestead, and how
Work in Homestead centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Homestead
Homestead has more parkland per resident than 76% of cities and less late-night activity than most cities. The coast is about 15 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Homestead and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Homestead, month by month
Homestead sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 78, with lows near 59. The comfortable stretch runs November through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 78° | 68° | 59° |
| April | 85° | 76° | 68° |
| July | 91° | 83° | 77° |
| October | 87° | 80° | 73° |
Flying in and out of Homestead
Miami International sits about 24 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 26.2 million passengers in 2025, with 233 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Homestead
Schools across Homestead average a C+, better than 44% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Treasure Village Montessori Charter SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Ocean Studies CharterA · 65% proficient
- Plantation Key SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Southwood Middle SchoolA · 61% proficient
- Somerset Academy Charter Middle School (south Homestead)B+ · 52% proficient
- Somerset Prep Academy Middle HomesteadB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Medical Academy For Science And Technology (m.a.s.t.) @ HomeA+ · 82% proficient
- Center For International Education A Cambridge Associate SchA+ · 82% proficient
- Somerset Island PrepB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Homestead school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Homestead 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 Homestead against the other 444 cities.
Who Homestead suits
Common questions about living in Homestead
Is Homestead a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Homestead ranks 425th of 445 cities. It scores highest on quiet, a strong job market, and state infrastructure, and lowest on an overheated housing market and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Homestead expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $414,841. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $74,224 median income, cost of living beats 8% of cities.
Is Homestead safe?
Homestead is safer than 25% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $319 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Homestead?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 78 with lows near 59. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 15% of cities.
Is Homestead good for families?
Schools beat 44% of cities, crime safety beats 25%, and childcare runs $844 a month.
Is Homestead good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 8% of cities, though advertised internet speeds beat only 52% of cities. About 8% of workers already work from home.
Compare Homestead with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Homestead. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Homestead 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.
Homestead detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Homestead: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Homestead: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Homestead: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Homestead: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Homestead 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.