Best PlacesNew Smyrna Beach, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around New Smyrna Beach, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
New Smyrna Beach ranks 1,084th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in New Smyrna Beach
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 Smyrna Beach's strengths and weaknesses
Where New Smyrna Beach ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 88% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 83% of cities
Where New Smyrna Beach ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 1% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 10% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 14% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 16% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in New Smyrna Beach
A household needs to earn about $112,000 a year to comfortably buy the median New Smyrna Beach home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $88,456, 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 New Smyrna Beach's effective rate of 0.77%, 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 New Smyrna Beach
New Smyrna Beach runs older than the country, 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 New Smyrna Beach.
Who works in New Smyrna Beach, and how
Work in New Smyrna Beach centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in New Smyrna Beach
New Smyrna Beach has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of cities and more parkland per resident than 81% of cities. The coast is about 7 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of New Smyrna Beach and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in New Smyrna Beach, month by month
New Smyrna Beach sees roughly 147 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 52. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 61° | 52° |
| April | 80° | 74° | 64° |
| July | 89° | 83° | 76° |
| October | 82° | 77° | 70° |
Flying in and out of New Smyrna Beach
The nearest airport, Daytona Beach International, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Orlando International, about 46 miles away.
The best schools in and around New Smyrna Beach
Schools across New Smyrna Beach average a B+, better than 78% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Pine Trail Elementary SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Coronado Beach Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Chisholm Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
Top middle schools
- Creekside Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Ormond Beach Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Silver Sands Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Spruce Creek High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- New Smyrna Beach High SchoolB+ · 56% proficient
- Seabreeze High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every New Smyrna Beach school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
New Smyrna Beach 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 Smyrna Beach against the other 2,097 cities.
Who New Smyrna Beach suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 21% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 81% of cities, health care access beats 83%, and it is quieter than 75%.
Common questions about living in New Smyrna Beach
Is New Smyrna Beach a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, New Smyrna Beach ranks 1,084th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and fast internet, and lowest on empty homes and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is New Smyrna Beach expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $430,332. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $88,456 median income, cost of living beats 52% of cities.
Is New Smyrna Beach safe?
Yes, New Smyrna Beach is safer than 88% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $139 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in New Smyrna Beach?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 68 with lows near 52. That works out to about 147 pleasant days a year, more than 81% of cities.
Is New Smyrna Beach good for families?
Schools beat 78% of cities, crime safety beats 88%, and childcare runs $820 a month.
Compare New Smyrna Beach with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to New Smyrna Beach. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in New Smyrna Beach 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 Smyrna Beach detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for New Smyrna Beach: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in New Smyrna Beach: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of New Smyrna Beach: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in New Smyrna Beach: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
New Smyrna Beach 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.