Best PlacesNassau County, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Nassau 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.
Nassau County ranks 342nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Nassau 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 Nassau County
The parts of Nassau 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.
Fernandina Beach
More adults hold degrees, biking is better, and health care is easier to reach.
Yulee
More households have young kids and heat risk is lower.
Hilliard
Homes cost less and tree cover is thicker.
Callahan & Bryceville
Fewer homes sit empty, though crime runs higher.
Nassau County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 12% of the country and others in the top 2%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Nassau County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nassau County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 96% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of counties
Where Nassau County ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 7% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
- Short commute30.1 minutes each way, better than only 15% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Nassau County
A household needs to earn about $106,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nassau County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $91,284, 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 Nassau County's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Nassau County
Nassau County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Nassau County.
Who works in Nassau County, and how
Work in Nassau 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 82%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Nassau County
Nassau County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of counties. The coast is about 21 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Nassau County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Nassau County growing, and who is moving in?
Nassau County has grown about 37% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Jacksonville, FL metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Nassau County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Nassau County, month by month
Nassau County sees roughly 130 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 65, with lows near 47. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 65° | 55° | 47° |
| April | 78° | 69° | 61° |
| July | 90° | 82° | 76° |
| October | 80° | 73° | 66° |
Flying in and out of Nassau County
Jacksonville International sits about 8 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.7 million passengers in 2025, with 86 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Nassau County
Schools across Nassau County average an A−, better than 94% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Bryceville Elementary SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Wildlight ElementaryA+ · 82% proficient
- Hilliard Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
Top middle schools
- Callahan Middle SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
- Fernandina Beach Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Yulee Middle SchoolA · 64% proficient
Top high schools
- Hilliard Middle-senior HighA− · 63% proficient
- Yulee High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- West Nassau County High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nassau County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nassau 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 Nassau County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Nassau County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 82% of counties and health care access beats 78%.
Common questions about living in Nassau County
Is Nassau County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nassau County ranks 342nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low crime, and a strong job market, and lowest on car insurance costs and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nassau County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $410,243. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $91,284 median income, cost of living beats 91% of counties.
Is Nassau County safe?
Yes, Nassau County is safer than 99% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $131 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Nassau County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 65 with lows near 47. That works out to about 130 pleasant days a year, more than 82% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Nassau County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Fernandina Beach, Yulee, and Hilliard. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Nassau County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nassau County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nassau 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.
Nassau County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nassau County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nassau County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nassau County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nassau County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nassau 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.