Best PlacesLauderdale-by-the-Sea, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, 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.
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea ranks 12,398th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
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.
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lauderdale-by-the-Sea ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of towns
Where Lauderdale-by-the-Sea ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 1% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
A household needs to earn about $190,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lauderdale-by-the-Sea home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $92,960, 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 Lauderdale-by-the-Sea's effective rate of 0.94%, 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 Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea 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 Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.
Who works in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, and how
Work in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea centers on professional & technical and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 61%
- Work from home 32%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea has more restaurants and bars per resident than 94% of towns. The coast is about 0 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, month by month
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 78, with lows near 60. The comfortable stretch runs December through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 78° | 69° | 60° |
| April | 85° | 77° | 70° |
| July | 91° | 85° | 78° |
| October | 87° | 80° | 74° |
Flying in and out of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
The nearest airport, Fort Lauderdale Exec, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International, about 9 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
Schools across Lauderdale-by-the-Sea average a B, better than 68% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Nova Blanche Forman ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nova Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lauderdale-by-the-Sea school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea 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 Lauderdale-by-the-Sea against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
Is Lauderdale-by-the-Sea a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea ranks 12,398th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, transit, and walkability, and lowest on car insurance costs and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lauderdale-by-the-Sea expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $713,487. The overall cost of living runs about 19% above the national average. Set against a $92,960 median income, cost of living beats 59% of towns.
Is Lauderdale-by-the-Sea safe?
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea is safer than 22% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $274 per resident a year.
Compare Lauderdale-by-the-Sea with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea 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.
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lauderdale-by-the-Sea: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea 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.