Best PlacesOcala, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Ocala metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by brandon7533, CC BY-SA 3.0, via wiki
Ocala ranks 261st of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. Its strengths are state infrastructure and low taxes. The cost shows up in walkability, summer heat, and low incomes.
The best neighborhoods in the Ocala metro
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 Ocala
The towns and districts of the Ocala metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Dunnellon
Fewer homes sit empty, crime runs lower, and more residents vote.
Silver Springs Shores & Ocklawaha
More households have young kids and heat risk is lower.
Summerfield, Belleview & The Villages
It is quieter, though tree cover is thinner.
Reddick
Biking is worse.
Downtown Ocala
Local pay stretches less far and prices have run up more.
Fort Mc Coy, Silver Springs & Lynne
Homes cost less, though commutes are longer.
Ocala shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 4% of the country and others in the top 4%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Ocala's strengths and weaknesses
Ocala lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. State infrastructure is the standout, in the top 3% of metro areas. Low taxes and low crime follow.
The one real hole is walkability, near the bottom of the country. Summer heat and low incomes also cost it ground. That one depends almost entirely on which part you pick, which is what the map below settles.
Where Ocala ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of metro areas
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of metro areas
- Crime safetyBetter than 88% of metro areas
- QuietBetter than 86% of metro areas
- Nice weatherabout 126 pleasant days a year, better than 77% of metro areas
Where Ocala ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 2% of metro areas
- Heat safetyBetter than only 6% of metro areas
- Household income$64,764 median, better than only 10% of metro areas
- Health outlookBetter than only 11% of metro areas
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 11% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Ocala
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ocala home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $64,764; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Ocala's effective rate of 0.72%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ocala
Ocala runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ocala.
Who works in Ocala, and how
Work in Ocala centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Ocala
Ocala has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most metro areas and less parkland per resident than most metro areas. The coast is about 68 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Ocala and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Ocala growing, and who is moving in?
Ocala has grown about 27% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Orlando, FL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Ocala go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Ocala, month by month
Ocala sees roughly 126 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 70, with lows near 45. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 70° | 56° | 45° |
| April | 84° | 71° | 58° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 85° | 73° | 64° |
Flying in and out of Ocala
The nearest airport, Gainesville Regional, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Orlando International, about 71 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ocala
Schools across Ocala average a B−, better than 52% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Madison Street Academy Of Visual And Performing ArtsA+ · 80% proficient
- Dr N H Jones Elementary SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
- Eighth Street Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Osceola Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Belleview Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Howard Middle SchoolB+ · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Forest High SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Citrus High SchoolB · 49% proficient
- West Port High SchoolB · 49% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ocala school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ocala 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 Ocala against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Ocala suits
Families
Schools land around the 52nd percentile and crime safety beats 88%.
Retirees
The weather beats 77% of metro areas and it is quieter than 86%.
Common questions about living in Ocala
Is Ocala a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ocala ranks 261st of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and low crime, and lowest on walkability and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ocala expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $252,491. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $64,764 median income, cost of living beats 17% of metro areas.
Is Ocala safe?
Yes, Ocala is safer than 88% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $157 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Ocala?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 70 with lows near 45. That works out to about 126 pleasant days a year, more than 77% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Ocala?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Dunnellon, Silver Springs Shores & Ocklawaha, and Summerfield, Belleview & The Villages. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Ocala good for families?
Schools beat 52% of metro areas, crime safety beats 88%, and childcare runs $775 a month.
Is Ocala good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 17% of metro areas, though advertised internet speeds beat only 49% of metro areas. About 14% of workers already work from home.
Compare Ocala with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ocala. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ocala 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.
Ocala detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ocala: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ocala: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ocala: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ocala: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ocala 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.