Best PlacesLecanto, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lecanto, 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.
Lecanto ranks 27,434th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lecanto
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.
Lecanto's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lecanto ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 151 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of towns
- BikingBetter than 83% of towns
Where Lecanto ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 8% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lecanto
A household needs to earn about $72,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lecanto home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $63,196, 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 Lecanto's effective rate of 0.63%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lecanto
Lecanto 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 Lecanto.
Who works in Lecanto, and how
Work in Lecanto centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Lecanto
The coast is about 34 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Lecanto, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lecanto, month by month
Lecanto sees roughly 151 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 46. The comfortable stretch runs October through May.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 56° | 46° |
| April | 82° | 70° | 59° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 73° |
| October | 84° | 73° | 65° |
Flying in and out of Lecanto
The nearest airport, Gainesville Regional, is about 59 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Tampa International, about 61 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lecanto
Schools across Lecanto average a B+, better than 75% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rock Crusher Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Pleasant Grove Elementary SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Forest Ridge Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Citrus Springs Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Lecanto Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Inverness Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Lecanto High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Citrus High SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Crystal River High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lecanto school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lecanto 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 Lecanto against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lecanto
Is Lecanto a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lecanto ranks 27,434th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and the weather, and lowest on disaster risk and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lecanto expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $282,562. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $63,196 median income, cost of living beats 31% of towns.
Is Lecanto safe?
Yes, Lecanto is safer than 89% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $125 per resident a year.
Compare Lecanto with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lecanto. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lecanto 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.
Lecanto detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lecanto: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lecanto: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lecanto: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lecanto: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lecanto 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.