Best PlacesPace, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pace, 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.
Pace ranks 1,186th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Pace
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.
Pace's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pace ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of cities
- QuietBetter than 95% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 88% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 87% of cities
Where Pace ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 5% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 9% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 10% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Pace
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pace home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,988, 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 Pace's effective rate of 0.57%, 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 Pace
Pace'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 Pace.
Who works in Pace, and how
Work in Pace centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Pace
Pace has more restaurants and bars per resident than 69% of cities. The coast is about 34 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Pace and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Pace, month by month
Pace sees roughly 116 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 52° | 42° |
| April | 79° | 67° | 56° |
| July | 92° | 82° | 74° |
| October | 83° | 71° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Pace
The nearest airport, Pensacola International, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 190 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pace
Schools across Pace average a B, better than 66% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- S. S. Dixon Intermediate SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Chumuckla Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Bennett C Russell Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Thomas L Sims Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
- Avalon Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Hobbs Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Pace High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Jay High SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Santa Rosa Adult SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pace school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pace 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 Pace against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Pace suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Pace
Is Pace a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pace ranks 1,186th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state infrastructure, quiet, and low taxes, and lowest on disaster risk and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pace expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $291,917. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $88,988 median income, cost of living beats 59% of cities.
Is Pace safe?
Yes, Pace is safer than 87% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $135 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Pace?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 64 with lows near 42. That works out to about 116 pleasant days a year, more than 69% of cities.
Is Pace good for families?
Schools beat 66% of cities, crime safety beats 87%, and childcare runs $932 a month.
Compare Pace with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pace. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pace 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.
Pace detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pace: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pace: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pace: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pace: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pace 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.