Best PlacesPlantation Island, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Plantation Island, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Plantation Island ranks 39,257th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Plantation Island
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.
Plantation Island's strengths and weaknesses
Where Plantation Island ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 163 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of towns
- BikingBetter than 89% of towns
Where Plantation Island ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Short commute43.5 minutes each way, better than only 2% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Plantation Island
A household needs to earn about $105,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Plantation Island home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $95,284; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Plantation Island's effective rate of 0.99%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Plantation Island
Plantation Island runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, 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 Plantation Island.
Who works in Plantation Island, and how
Work in Plantation Island centers on hospitality & food and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 17%
Life in Plantation Island
The coast is about 42 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Plantation Island, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Plantation Island, month by month
Plantation Island sees roughly 163 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 77, with lows near 56. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 77° | 65° | 56° |
| April | 89° | 75° | 63° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 76° |
| October | 89° | 78° | 72° |
Flying in and out of Plantation Island
Southwest Florida International sits about 53 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 Plantation Island
Schools across Plantation Island average an A−, better than 84% of towns.
Top high schools
- Everglades City SchoolA · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Plantation Island school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Plantation Island 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 Plantation Island against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Plantation Island
Is Plantation Island a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Plantation Island ranks 39,257th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, civic engagement, and low taxes, and lowest on an overheated housing market and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Plantation Island expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $392,200. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $95,284 median income, cost of living beats 61% of towns.
Is Plantation Island safe?
Plantation Island is safer than 3% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $493 per resident a year.
Compare Plantation Island with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Plantation Island. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Plantation Island 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.
Plantation Island detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Plantation Island: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Plantation Island: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Plantation Island: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Plantation Island: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Plantation Island 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.