Best PlacesLake Magdalene, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lake Magdalene, 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.
Lake Magdalene ranks 1,253rd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lake Magdalene
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.
Lake Magdalene's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lake Magdalene ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 81% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 79% of cities
Where Lake Magdalene ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 7% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 33% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Lake Magdalene
A household needs to earn about $97,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lake Magdalene home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $85,626, 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 Lake Magdalene's effective rate of 0.78%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lake Magdalene
Lake Magdalene's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Lake Magdalene.
Who works in Lake Magdalene, and how
Work in Lake Magdalene centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Lake Magdalene
Lake Magdalene has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of cities and more parkland per resident than 80% of cities. The coast is about 15 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lake Magdalene and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lake Magdalene, month by month
Lake Magdalene sees roughly 133 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 73, with lows near 52. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 73° | 62° | 52° |
| April | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| July | 93° | 84° | 77° |
| October | 88° | 78° | 70° |
Flying in and out of Lake Magdalene
Tampa International sits about 8 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.1 million passengers in 2025, with 135 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Lake Magdalene
Schools across Lake Magdalene average a B−, better than 54% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Patricia Sullivan Metropolitan Ministries Partnership SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Lake Magdalene Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Miles Elementary SchoolD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Martinez Middle SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
- Hill Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Buchanan Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Steinbrenner High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Gaither High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Chamberlain High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lake Magdalene school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lake Magdalene 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 Lake Magdalene against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Lake Magdalene suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Lake Magdalene
Is Lake Magdalene a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lake Magdalene ranks 1,253rd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and fast internet, 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 Lake Magdalene expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $373,114. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $85,626 median income, cost of living beats 58% of cities.
Is Lake Magdalene safe?
Lake Magdalene is safer than 34% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $248 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lake Magdalene?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 73 with lows near 52. That works out to about 133 pleasant days a year, more than 77% of cities.
Is Lake Magdalene good for families?
Schools beat 54% of cities, crime safety beats 34%, and childcare runs $973 a month.
Compare Lake Magdalene with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lake Magdalene. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lake Magdalene 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.
Lake Magdalene detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lake Magdalene: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lake Magdalene: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lake Magdalene: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lake Magdalene: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lake Magdalene 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.