Best PlacesMossy Head, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mossy Head, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Mossy Head ranks 26,657th of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Mossy Head
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.
Mossy Head's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mossy Head ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 97% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 94% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 83% of towns
Where Mossy Head ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 8% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 17% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mossy Head
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mossy Head home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,860, 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 Mossy Head's effective rate of 0.30%, 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 2 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Mossy Head
Mossy Head's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Mossy Head.
Who works in Mossy Head, and how
Work in Mossy Head centers on transportation & warehousing and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Mossy Head
The coast is about 48 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Mossy Head, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Mossy Head, month by month
Mossy Head sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 50° | 40° |
| April | 80° | 66° | 54° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 84° | 69° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Mossy Head
The nearest airport, Eglin AFB/Destin-Ft Walton Beach, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 228 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mossy Head
Schools across Mossy Head average an A−, better than 83% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lula J. Edge Elementary SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
- Mossy Head SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Riverside Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- C. W. Ruckel Middle SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- Freeport Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Shoal River Middle SchoolA− · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Niceville Senior High SchoolA · 76% proficient
- Crestview High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Walton High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mossy Head school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mossy Head 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 Mossy Head against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mossy Head
Is Mossy Head a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mossy Head ranks 26,657th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, a strong job market, 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 Mossy Head expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $124,762. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $79,860 median income, cost of living beats 75% of towns.
Is Mossy Head safe?
Yes, Mossy Head is safer than 72% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $152 per resident a year.
Compare Mossy Head with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mossy Head. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mossy Head 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.
Mossy Head detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mossy Head: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mossy Head: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mossy Head: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mossy Head: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mossy Head 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.