Best PlacesLakeside, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lakeside, 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.
Lakeside ranks 1,175th 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 Lakeside
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.
Lakeside's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lakeside ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 82% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 79% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of cities
Where Lakeside ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 12% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 13% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 15% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 21% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 24% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Lakeside
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lakeside home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $80,617, 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 Lakeside'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, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lakeside
Lakeside'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 Lakeside.
Who works in Lakeside, and how
Work in Lakeside centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Lakeside
Lakeside has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of cities and more parkland per resident than 79% of cities. The coast is about 33 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lakeside and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lakeside, month by month
Lakeside sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 54° | 42° |
| April | 82° | 69° | 56° |
| July | 95° | 82° | 72° |
| October | 85° | 72° | 62° |
Flying in and out of Lakeside
Jacksonville International sits about 25 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.7 million passengers in 2025, with 86 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Lakeside
Schools across Lakeside average a B+, better than 72% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Rideout Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Ridgeview Elementary SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Doctors Inlet Elementary SchoolA · 64% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lakeside Junior High SchoolA+ · 71% proficient
- Lake Asbury Junior High SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Orange Park Junior High SchoolB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Fleming Island High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Ridgeview High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Orange Park High SchoolB · 46% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lakeside school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lakeside 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 Lakeside against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Lakeside suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Lakeside
Is Lakeside a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lakeside ranks 1,175th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and a stable housing market, 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 Lakeside expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $265,545. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $80,617 median income, cost of living beats 58% of cities.
Is Lakeside safe?
Yes, Lakeside is safer than 63% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $181 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lakeside?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 68 with lows near 42. That works out to about 112 pleasant days a year, more than 66% of cities.
Is Lakeside good for families?
Schools beat 72% of cities, crime safety beats 63%, and childcare runs $844 a month.
Compare Lakeside with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lakeside. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lakeside 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.
Lakeside detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lakeside: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lakeside: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lakeside: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lakeside: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lakeside 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.