Best PlacesLee County, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lee County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Lee County ranks 1,382nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 22 minutes away. Its strengths are state infrastructure and low taxes. The cost shows up in summer heat, disaster risk, and car insurance costs.
The best neighborhoods in Lee County
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.
The best areas in Lee County
The parts of Lee County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
San Carlos Park, Cypress Lake & Villas
More adults hold degrees, health care is easier to reach, and local pay stretches further.
Cape Coral
Crime runs lower, though heat risk is higher.
Iona & Sanibel
More homes sit empty and fewer households have young kids.
Bonita Springs & Estero
Incomes run higher, though biking is worse.
Bokeelia
Tree cover is thinner and prices have run up more.
Alva & Fort Myers Shores
It is quieter, though commutes are longer.
Fort Myers
Streets are more walkable, though fewer residents vote.
Lehigh Acres
Schools score lower.
North Fort Myers
Homes cost less, though health outcomes score lower.
Lee County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 9%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Lee County's strengths and weaknesses
Lee County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. State infrastructure is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Low taxes and biking follow.
The one real hole is summer heat, near the bottom of the country. Disaster risk and car insurance costs also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Lee County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of counties
- BikingBetter than 92% of counties
- TransitBetter than 90% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of counties
Where Lee County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 3% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of counties
- Short commute29.4 minutes each way, better than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lee County
A household needs to earn about $99,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lee County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $81,807, 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 Lee County'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 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 Lee County
Lee County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lee County.
Who works in Lee County, and how
Work in Lee County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Lee County
The coast is about 22 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Lee County, which the map shows.
Is Lee County growing, and who is moving in?
Lee County has grown about 27% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Miami, FL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lee County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lee County, month by month
Lee County sees roughly 119 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 77, with lows near 54. The comfortable stretch runs November through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 77° | 65° | 54° |
| April | 88° | 76° | 65° |
| July | 93° | 83° | 76° |
| October | 89° | 78° | 71° |
Flying in and out of Lee County
Southwest Florida International sits about 7 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.5 million passengers in 2025, with 103 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Lee County
Schools across Lee County average a B−, better than 68% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- The Sanibel SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Pinewoods Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Fort Myers Beach Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Oasis Charter Middle SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Trafalgar Middle SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Gulf Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top high schools
- Florida Southwestern Collegiate High SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
- Oasis Charter High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- North Fort Myers High SchoolA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lee County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lee County 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 Lee County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Lee County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 71% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 18% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Lee County
Is Lee County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lee County ranks 1,382nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and biking, and lowest on summer heat and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lee County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $380,919. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $81,807 median income, cost of living beats 71% of counties.
Is Lee County safe?
Yes, Lee County is safer than 86% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $178 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lee County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 77 with lows near 54. That works out to about 119 pleasant days a year, more than 74% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Lee County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are San Carlos Park, Cypress Lake & Villas, Cape Coral, and Iona & Sanibel. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Lee County good for families?
Schools beat 68% of counties, crime safety beats 86%, and childcare runs $820 a month.
Is Lee County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 71% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 90% of counties. About 18% of workers already work from home.
Compare Lee County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lee County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lee County 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.
Lee County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lee County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lee County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lee County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lee County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lee County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.