Best PlacesOkeechobee County, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Okeechobee County, 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.
Okeechobee County ranks 2,430th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Okeechobee 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.
Okeechobee County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Okeechobee County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 85% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 82% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 124 pleasant days a year, better than 78% of counties
Where Okeechobee County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 5% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Okeechobee County
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Okeechobee County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,482, 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 Okeechobee County's effective rate of 0.75%, 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 Okeechobee County
Okeechobee County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Okeechobee County.
Who works in Okeechobee County, and how
Work in Okeechobee County centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Okeechobee County
The coast is about 50 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Okeechobee County, which the map shows.
Is Okeechobee County growing, and who is moving in?
Okeechobee County has grown about 7% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Monroe County, FL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Okeechobee County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Okeechobee County, month by month
Okeechobee County sees roughly 124 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 73, with lows near 52. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 73° | 61° | 52° |
| April | 84° | 72° | 61° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 73° |
| October | 85° | 75° | 68° |
Flying in and out of Okeechobee County
The nearest airport, Vero Beach Regional, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Palm Beach International, about 61 miles away.
The best schools in and around Okeechobee County
Schools across Okeechobee County average a B, better than 70% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Treasure Coast Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Glendale Elementary SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Park Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Storm Grove Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Sebastian River Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Osceola Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Okeechobee High SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Sebastian River High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Sebring High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Okeechobee County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Okeechobee 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 Okeechobee County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Okeechobee County suits
Common questions about living in Okeechobee County
Is Okeechobee County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Okeechobee County ranks 2,430th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and big-city access, 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 Okeechobee County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $226,499. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $63,482 median income, cost of living beats 45% of counties.
Is Okeechobee County safe?
Okeechobee County is safer than 44% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $239 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Okeechobee County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 73 with lows near 52. That works out to about 124 pleasant days a year, more than 78% of counties.
Is Okeechobee County good for families?
Schools beat 70% of counties, crime safety beats 44%, and childcare runs $718 a month.
Compare Okeechobee County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Okeechobee County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Okeechobee 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.
Okeechobee County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Okeechobee County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Okeechobee County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Okeechobee County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Okeechobee County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Okeechobee 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.