Best PlacesLake Mary, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lake Mary, 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 Mary ranks 376th of 2,098 U.S. cities 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 Lake Mary
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 Mary's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lake Mary ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 91% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 85% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 82% of cities
Where Lake Mary ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 11% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 13% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 25% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 29% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 32% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Lake Mary
A household needs to earn about $129,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lake Mary home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $121,400; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Mary's effective rate of 0.76%, 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 Lake Mary
Lake Mary runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lake Mary.
Who works in Lake Mary, and how
Work in Lake Mary centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Lake Mary
Lake Mary has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of cities and more parkland per resident than 80% of cities. The coast is about 43 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lake Mary and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lake Mary, month by month
Lake Mary sees roughly 131 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 74, with lows near 48. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 74° | 60° | 48° |
| April | 86° | 72° | 61° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 75° |
| October | 86° | 76° | 68° |
Flying in and out of Lake Mary
The nearest airport, Orlando Sanford International, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Orlando International, about 23 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lake Mary
Schools across Lake Mary average an A−, better than 80% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Heathrow Elementary SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Seminole Science Charter SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Sabal Point Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rock Lake Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Sanford Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Markham Woods Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
Top high schools
- Lake Mary High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Lake Brantley High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Seminole High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lake Mary school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lake Mary 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 Mary against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Lake Mary suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 28% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 75% of cities and health care access beats 70%.
Common questions about living in Lake Mary
Is Lake Mary a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lake Mary ranks 376th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and what local pay buys, and lowest on summer heat 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 Mary expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $496,770. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $121,400 median income, cost of living beats 91% of cities.
Is Lake Mary safe?
Yes, Lake Mary is safer than 69% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $171 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lake Mary?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 74 with lows near 48. That works out to about 131 pleasant days a year, more than 75% of cities.
Is Lake Mary good for families?
Schools beat 80% of cities, crime safety beats 69%, and childcare runs $1,027 a month.
Compare Lake Mary with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lake Mary. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lake Mary 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 Mary detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lake Mary: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lake Mary: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lake Mary: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lake Mary: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lake Mary 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.