Best PlacesPierce, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pierce, 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.
Pierce ranks 44,670th of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Pierce
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.
Pierce's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pierce ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 143 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 87% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 84% of towns
Where Pierce ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$35,118 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Pierce
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pierce home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $35,118, 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 Pierce's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 Pierce
Pierce runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, 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 Pierce.
Who works in Pierce, and how
Work in Pierce centers on transportation & warehousing and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 66%
- Work from home 31%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Pierce
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Pierce.
What the weather is like in Pierce, month by month
Pierce sees roughly 143 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 71, with lows near 51. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 71° | 60° | 51° |
| April | 84° | 73° | 62° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 74° |
| October | 85° | 76° | 69° |
Flying in and out of Pierce
Tampa International sits about 38 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.1 million passengers in 2025, with 135 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Pierce
Schools across Pierce average a C+, better than 44% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- James W. Sikes Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Floral Avenue Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Purcell Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mulberry Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Bartow Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Bartow Senior High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Mulberry Senior High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pierce school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pierce 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 Pierce against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Pierce
Is Pierce a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pierce ranks 44,670th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and the weather, and lowest on summer heat and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pierce expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $183,923. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $35,118 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Pierce safe?
Pierce is safer than 38% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $218 per resident a year.
Compare Pierce with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pierce. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pierce 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.
Pierce detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pierce: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pierce: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pierce: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pierce: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pierce 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.