Best PlacesPonce de Leon, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ponce de Leon, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Ponce de Leon ranks 40,545th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Ponce de Leon
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.
Ponce de Leon's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ponce de Leon ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 86% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 86% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 82% of towns
Where Ponce de Leon ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 7% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 7% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ponce de Leon
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ponce de Leon home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,377, 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 Ponce de Leon's effective rate of 0.42%, 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 Ponce de Leon
Ponce de Leon runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ponce de Leon.
Who works in Ponce de Leon, and how
Work in Ponce de Leon centers on construction and retail trade. 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 3%
Life in Ponce de Leon
Ponce de Leon has more parkland per resident than 99% of towns. The coast is about 54 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Ponce de Leon and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Ponce de Leon, month by month
Ponce de Leon sees roughly 114 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 51° | 42° |
| April | 80° | 67° | 56° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 74° |
| October | 82° | 69° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Ponce de Leon
The nearest airport, Northwest Florida Beaches International, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 224 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ponce de Leon
Schools across Ponce de Leon average a B+, better than 76% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Dune Lakes Elementary SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Mossy Head SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Vernon Elementary SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Top middle schools
- Emerald Coast Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Freeport Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Walton Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- South Walton High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Walton High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Holmes County High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ponce de Leon school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ponce de Leon 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 Ponce de Leon against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ponce de Leon
Is Ponce de Leon a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ponce de Leon ranks 40,545th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and low property taxes, and lowest on disaster risk and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ponce de Leon expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $136,349. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $59,377 median income, cost of living beats 20% of towns.
Is Ponce de Leon safe?
Yes, Ponce de Leon is safer than 82% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $137 per resident a year.
Compare Ponce de Leon with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ponce de Leon. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ponce de Leon 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.
Ponce de Leon detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ponce de Leon: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ponce de Leon: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ponce de Leon: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ponce de Leon: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ponce de Leon 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.