Best PlacesNew River, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around New River, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
New River ranks 31,298th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in New River
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.
New River's strengths and weaknesses
Where New River ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 84% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 113 pleasant days a year, better than 76% of towns
Where New River ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in New River
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median New River home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,372, 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 New River's effective rate of 0.58%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in New River
New River runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for New River.
Who works in New River, and how
Work in New River centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in New River
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across New River.
What the weather is like in New River, month by month
New River sees roughly 113 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 70, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 70° | 55° | 42° |
| April | 84° | 70° | 55° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 85° | 72° | 61° |
Flying in and out of New River
The nearest airport, Gainesville Regional, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 53 miles away.
The best schools in and around New River
Schools across New River average an A−, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lake Butler Elementary SchoolA · 69% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lake Butler Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Union County High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every New River school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
New River 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 New River against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in New River
Is New River a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, New River ranks 31,298th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, few empty homes, and low taxes, and lowest on thin health care access and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is New River expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $185,717. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $66,372 median income, cost of living beats 37% of towns.
Is New River safe?
New River is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $245 per resident a year.
Compare New River with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to New River. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in New River 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.
New River detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for New River: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in New River: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of New River: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in New River: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
New River 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.