Best PlacesPalm Harbor, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Palm Harbor, 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.
Palm Harbor ranks 816th of 2,098 U.S. cities 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 Palm Harbor
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 Palm Harbor
The parts of Palm Harbor, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
On Top of The World & Greenbriar Club
Lake St. George & Riviera Estates
Fox Chase
Scores across Palm Harbor run from about the 29th to the 95th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Palm Harbor's strengths and weaknesses
Where Palm Harbor ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 86% of cities
- School gradeA−, better than 86% of cities
Where Palm Harbor ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 8% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 16% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 24% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Palm Harbor
A household needs to earn about $101,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Palm Harbor home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $86,305, 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 Harbor'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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Palm Harbor
Palm Harbor runs older 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 Palm Harbor.
Who works in Palm Harbor, and how
Work in Palm Harbor centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Palm Harbor
Palm Harbor has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of cities and more parkland per resident than 82% of cities. The coast is about 6 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Palm Harbor and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Palm Harbor, month by month
Palm Harbor sees roughly 151 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 73, with lows near 52. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 73° | 61° | 52° |
| April | 85° | 74° | 65° |
| July | 93° | 84° | 77° |
| October | 87° | 78° | 71° |
Flying in and out of Palm Harbor
The nearest airport, St Pete-Clearwater International, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Tampa International, about 14 miles away.
The best schools in and around Palm Harbor
Schools across Palm Harbor average an A−, better than 86% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Cypress Woods Elementary SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Brooker Creek Elementary SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Elisa Nelson ElementaryA+ · 81% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tarpon Springs Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Joseph L. Carwise Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Palm Harbor Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- St. Petersburg Collegiate High School North PinellasA+ · 88% proficient
- Palm Harbor University HighA · 71% proficient
- East Lake High SchoolA− · 61% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Palm Harbor school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Palm Harbor 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 Harbor against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Palm Harbor suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 23% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 83% of cities, health care access beats 72%, and it is quieter than 72%.
Common questions about living in Palm Harbor
Is Palm Harbor a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Palm Harbor ranks 816th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and low crime, and lowest on summer heat and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Palm Harbor expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $392,051. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $86,305 median income, cost of living beats 56% of cities.
Is Palm Harbor safe?
Yes, Palm Harbor is safer than 89% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $131 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Palm Harbor?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 73 with lows near 52. That works out to about 151 pleasant days a year, more than 83% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Palm Harbor?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are On Top of The World & Greenbriar Club, Lake St. George & Riviera Estates, and Fox Chase. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Palm Harbor with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Palm Harbor. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Palm Harbor 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 Harbor detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Palm Harbor: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Palm Harbor: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Palm Harbor: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Palm Harbor: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Palm Harbor 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.