Best PlacesPalm City, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Palm City, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Palm City ranks 526th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Palm City
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.
Palm City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Palm City ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of cities
Where Palm City ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 6% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 7% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 12% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Palm City
A household needs to earn about $158,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Palm City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $136,186, 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 Palm City's effective rate of 0.84%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Palm City
Palm City runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Palm City.
Who works in Palm City, and how
Work in Palm City 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 74%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Palm City
Palm City has more parkland per resident than 79% of cities. The coast is about 16 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Palm City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Palm City, month by month
Palm City sees roughly 114 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 74, with lows near 58. The comfortable stretch runs November through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 74° | 66° | 58° |
| April | 83° | 76° | 69° |
| July | 91° | 83° | 77° |
| October | 85° | 79° | 74° |
Flying in and out of Palm City
The nearest airport, Vero Beach Regional, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Palm Beach International, about 36 miles away.
The best schools in and around Palm City
Schools across Palm City average an A, better than 91% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Palm City Elementary SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- Bessey Creek Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Citrus Grove ElementaryA · 66% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hidden Oaks Middle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Stuart Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Dr. David L. Anderson Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Jensen Beach High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Martin County High SchoolB+ · 56% proficient
- South Fork High SchoolB · 49% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Palm City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Palm City 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 Palm City against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Palm City suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of cities and 24% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 68% of cities and health care access beats 86%.
Common questions about living in Palm City
Is Palm City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Palm City ranks 526th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low crime, state infrastructure, and low taxes, and lowest on disaster risk and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Palm City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $600,978. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $136,186 median income, cost of living beats 94% of cities.
Is Palm City safe?
Yes, Palm City is safer than 99% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $94 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Palm City?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 74 with lows near 58. That works out to about 114 pleasant days a year, more than 68% of cities.
Is Palm City good for families?
Schools beat 91% of cities, crime safety beats 99%, and childcare runs $971 a month.
Compare Palm City with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Palm City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Palm City 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.
Palm City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Palm City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Palm City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Palm City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Palm City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Palm City 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.