Best PlacesPolk County, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Polk County, 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.
Polk County ranks 1,483rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 49 minutes away. Its strengths are state infrastructure and low taxes. The cost shows up in car insurance costs, summer heat, and an overheated housing market.
The best neighborhoods in Polk County
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 Polk County
The parts of Polk County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Mulberry, Fuller Heights & Lakeland Highlands
Fewer homes sit empty, heat risk is lower, and local pay stretches further.
Auburndale, Lake Alfred & Polk City
Crime runs lower, though commutes are longer.
Crystal Lake
Biking is better, though it is noisier.
Lakeland
Scores close to Crystal Lake, except that streets are more car-dependent here.
Davenport, Haines City & Poinciana
Homes cost more and prices have run up more.
Bartow & Fort Meade
More households have young kids, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Winter Haven
Incomes run lower.
Dundee
Scores close to Winter Haven, except that more residents vote here.
Lake Wales & Frostproof
Health outcomes score lower and advertised internet is slower.
Polk County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 3% of the country and others in the top 2%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Polk County's strengths and weaknesses
Polk County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. State infrastructure is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Low taxes and fast internet follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Car insurance costs, summer heat, and an overheated housing market hold the score down. Cost swings more from one part of Polk County to another than it does between Polk County and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Polk County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 93% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 91% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of counties
Where Polk County ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
- Short commute30.5 minutes each way, better than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Polk County
A household needs to earn about $67,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Polk County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,281, 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 Polk County'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 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 Polk County
Polk County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Polk County.
Who works in Polk County, and how
Work in Polk County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Polk County
Polk County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. The coast is about 49 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Polk County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Polk County growing, and who is moving in?
Polk County has grown about 34% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Tampa, FL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Polk County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Polk County, month by month
Polk County sees roughly 137 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 74, with lows near 50. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 74° | 61° | 50° |
| April | 87° | 74° | 63° |
| July | 94° | 83° | 75° |
| October | 89° | 78° | 69° |
Flying in and out of Polk County
Orlando International sits about 40 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 28.1 million passengers in 2025, with 223 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Polk County
Schools across Polk County average a C, better than 42% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lincoln Avenue AcademyA+ · 80% proficient
- Lakeland Montessori School HouseA+ · 78% proficient
- Magnolia Montessori AcademyA+ · 78% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lakeland Montessori Middle SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Lawton Chiles Middle AcademyA+ · 71% proficient
- Berkley Accelerated Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
Top high schools
- Mckeel Academy Of TechnologyA · 78% proficient
- Lakeland Senior High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Harmony High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Polk County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Polk County 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 Polk County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Polk County suits
Families
Schools land around the 42nd percentile and crime safety beats 77%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Polk County
Is Polk County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Polk County ranks 1,483rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and fast internet, and lowest on car insurance costs and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Polk County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $260,991. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $70,281 median income, cost of living beats 50% of counties.
Is Polk County safe?
Yes, Polk County is safer than 77% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $189 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Polk County?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 74 with lows near 50. That works out to about 137 pleasant days a year, more than 86% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Polk County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Mulberry, Fuller Heights & Lakeland Highlands, Auburndale, Lake Alfred & Polk City, and Crystal Lake. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Polk County good for families?
Schools beat 42% of counties, crime safety beats 77%, and childcare runs $844 a month.
Is Polk County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 50% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 93% of counties. About 13% of workers already work from home.
Compare Polk County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Polk County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Polk County 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.
Polk County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Polk County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Polk County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Polk County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Polk County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Polk County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.