Best PlacesMartin County, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Martin County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Martin County ranks 797th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $90,958, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are summer heat, disaster risk, and car insurance costs.
The best neighborhoods in Martin 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 Martin County
The parts of Martin 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.
Sewalls Point
More adults hold degrees, local pay stretches further, and it is quieter.
Palm City
Incomes run higher, though homes cost more.
Hobe Sound & Jupiter
More homes sit empty and prices have run up more.
Port Salerno
Schools score lower.
Stuart & Jensen Beach
Fewer households have young kids and heat risk is higher.
Indiantown
Health care is harder to reach and fewer residents vote.
Martin County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 6% of the country and others in the top 8%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Martin County's strengths and weaknesses
Martin County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Low crime is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. State infrastructure and low taxes 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 Martin County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 88% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 88% of counties
Where Martin County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Cheap childcare$973 a month, better than only 19% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Martin County
A household needs to earn about $123,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Martin County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $90,958, 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 Martin County's effective rate of 0.73%, 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 Martin County
Martin County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Martin County.
Who works in Martin County, and how
Work in Martin County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Martin County
Martin County has more parkland per resident than 71% of counties. The coast is about 13 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Martin County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Martin County growing, and who is moving in?
Martin County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Miami, FL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Martin County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Martin County, month by month
Martin County sees roughly 115 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 74, with lows near 58. The comfortable stretch runs November through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 74° | 66° | 58° |
| April | 83° | 76° | 69° |
| July | 91° | 83° | 77° |
| October | 85° | 79° | 74° |
Flying in and out of Martin County
Palm Beach International sits about 33 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.3 million passengers in 2025, with 67 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Martin County
Schools across Martin County average a B+, better than 84% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Palm City Elementary SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- Bessey Creek Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Jensen Beach Elementary SchoolA · 66% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hidden Oaks Middle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Stuart Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Dr. David L. Anderson Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Clark Advanced Learning CenterA · 68% proficient
- Jensen Beach High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Jupiter High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Martin County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Martin 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 Martin County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Martin County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 88% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 16% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 71% of counties and health care access beats 76%.
Common questions about living in Martin County
Is Martin County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Martin County ranks 797th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, state infrastructure, and low taxes, 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 Martin County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $474,220. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $90,958 median income, cost of living beats 88% of counties.
Is Martin County safe?
Yes, Martin County is safer than 100% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $101 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Martin County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 74 with lows near 58. That works out to about 115 pleasant days a year, more than 71% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Martin County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Sewalls Point, Palm City, and Hobe Sound & Jupiter. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Martin County good for families?
Schools beat 84% of counties, crime safety beats 100%, and childcare runs $973 a month.
Is Martin County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 88% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 78% of counties. About 16% of workers already work from home.
Compare Martin County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Martin County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Martin 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.
Martin County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Martin County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Martin County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Martin County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Martin County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Martin 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.