Best PlacesPort Charlotte, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Port Charlotte, 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.
Port Charlotte ranks 1,517th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Port Charlotte
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.
Port Charlotte's strengths and weaknesses
Where Port Charlotte ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 78% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of cities
Where Port Charlotte ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 4% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 10% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 15% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Port Charlotte
A household needs to earn about $81,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Port Charlotte home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $70,382, 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 Port Charlotte's effective rate of 0.84%, 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 Port Charlotte
Port Charlotte runs older than the country, 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 Port Charlotte.
Who works in Port Charlotte, and how
Work in Port Charlotte 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 81%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Port Charlotte
Port Charlotte has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of cities and more parkland per resident than 77% of cities. The coast is about 25 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Port Charlotte and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Port Charlotte, month by month
Port Charlotte sees roughly 124 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 77, with lows near 50. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 77° | 63° | 50° |
| April | 88° | 74° | 60° |
| July | 94° | 83° | 75° |
| October | 89° | 77° | 69° |
Flying in and out of Port Charlotte
The nearest airport, Punta Gorda, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Southwest Florida International, about 39 miles away.
The best schools in and around Port Charlotte
Schools across Port Charlotte average a B+, better than 68% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Sallie Jones Elementary SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Taylor Ranch Elementary SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Neil Armstrong Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Venice Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- L. A. Ainger Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Port Charlotte Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Venice Senior High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Lemon Bay High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Charlotte High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Port Charlotte school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Port Charlotte 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 Port Charlotte against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Port Charlotte suits
Retirees
The weather beats 71% of cities, health care access beats 71%, and it is quieter than 73%.
Common questions about living in Port Charlotte
Is Port Charlotte a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Port Charlotte ranks 1,517th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low crime, state infrastructure, and low taxes, and lowest on summer heat and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Port Charlotte expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $309,969. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $70,382 median income, cost of living beats 23% of cities.
Is Port Charlotte safe?
Yes, Port Charlotte is safer than 99% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $107 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Port Charlotte?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 77 with lows near 50. That works out to about 124 pleasant days a year, more than 71% of cities.
Is Port Charlotte good for families?
Schools beat 68% of cities, crime safety beats 99%, and childcare runs $886 a month.
Compare Port Charlotte with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Port Charlotte. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Port Charlotte 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.
Port Charlotte detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Port Charlotte: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Port Charlotte: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Port Charlotte: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Port Charlotte: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Port Charlotte 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.