Best PlacesPalmdale, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Palmdale, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Palmdale ranks 43,069th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Palmdale
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.
Palmdale's strengths and weaknesses
Where Palmdale ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 168 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- QuietBetter than 90% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 88% of towns
Where Palmdale ranks low
- Short commute43.6 minutes each way, better than only 2% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 8% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Palmdale
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Palmdale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,881, 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 Palmdale's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 Palmdale
Palmdale runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Palmdale.
Who works in Palmdale, and how
Work in Palmdale 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 89%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Palmdale
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Palmdale.
What the weather is like in Palmdale, month by month
Palmdale sees roughly 168 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 74, with lows near 51. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 74° | 61° | 51° |
| April | 86° | 72° | 60° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 73° |
| October | 86° | 75° | 68° |
Flying in and out of Palmdale
Southwest Florida International sits about 34 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.5 million passengers in 2025, with 103 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Palmdale
Schools across Palmdale average a B−, better than 60% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lake Country Elementary SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- West Glades SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Moore Haven Elementary SchoolD · 17% proficient
Top middle schools
- Osceola Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Lake Placid Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Labelle High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Okeechobee High SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Lake Placid High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Palmdale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Palmdale 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 Palmdale against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Palmdale
Is Palmdale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Palmdale ranks 43,069th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, the weather, and low taxes, and lowest on long commutes and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Palmdale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $123,730. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $57,881 median income, cost of living beats 24% of towns.
Is Palmdale safe?
Palmdale is safer than 11% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $364 per resident a year.
Compare Palmdale with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Palmdale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Palmdale 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.
Palmdale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Palmdale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Palmdale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Palmdale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Palmdale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Palmdale 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.