Best PlacesOrtega Hills, Jacksonville, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ortega Hills, Jacksonville, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Ortega Hills, Jacksonville ranks 4,482nd of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and transit ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ortega Hills, Jacksonville
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.
Ortega Hills, Jacksonville's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ortega Hills, Jacksonville ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than 85% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than 85% of neighborhoods
Where Ortega Hills, Jacksonville ranks low
- TransitBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Ortega Hills, Jacksonville
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ortega Hills, Jacksonville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,039, 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 Ortega Hills, Jacksonville's effective rate of 0.60%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ortega Hills, Jacksonville
Ortega Hills, Jacksonville runs younger 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 Ortega Hills, Jacksonville.
Who works in Ortega Hills, Jacksonville, and how
Work in Ortega Hills, Jacksonville centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Ortega Hills, Jacksonville
The coast is about 25 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Ortega Hills, Jacksonville, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Ortega Hills, Jacksonville, month by month
Ortega Hills, Jacksonville sees roughly 115 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 69, with lows near 46. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 69° | 57° | 46° |
| April | 84° | 72° | 62° |
| July | 94° | 83° | 76° |
| October | 84° | 75° | 67° |
Flying in and out of Ortega Hills, Jacksonville
Jacksonville International sits about 20 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 Ortega Hills, Jacksonville
Schools across Ortega Hills, Jacksonville average a C, better than 31% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Grasp AcademyD+ · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- Joseph Stilwell Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Riverside High SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ortega Hills, Jacksonville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ortega Hills, Jacksonville 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 Ortega Hills, Jacksonville against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Ortega Hills, Jacksonville
Is Ortega Hills, Jacksonville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ortega Hills, Jacksonville ranks 4,482nd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on tree cover, state infrastructure, and low taxes, and lowest on transit and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ortega Hills, Jacksonville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $213,778. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $59,039 median income, cost of living beats 41% of neighborhoods.
Is Ortega Hills, Jacksonville safe?
Yes, Ortega Hills, Jacksonville is safer than 85% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $182 per resident a year.
Compare Ortega Hills, Jacksonville with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ortega Hills, Jacksonville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ortega Hills, Jacksonville 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.
Ortega Hills, Jacksonville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ortega Hills, Jacksonville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ortega Hills, Jacksonville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ortega Hills, Jacksonville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ortega Hills, Jacksonville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ortega Hills, Jacksonville 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.