Best PlacesRed Head, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Red Head, 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.
Red Head ranks 42,973rd 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 Red Head
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.
Red Head's strengths and weaknesses
Where Red Head ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 86% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 84% of towns
Where Red Head ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 5% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 7% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 7% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Red Head
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Red Head home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,944, 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 Red Head's effective rate of 0.44%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Red Head
Red Head runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Red Head.
Who works in Red Head, and how
Work in Red Head 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 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Red Head
The coast is about 24 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Red Head, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Red Head, month by month
Red Head sees roughly 100 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 65, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 65° | 52° | 43° |
| April | 79° | 67° | 56° |
| July | 91° | 82° | 74° |
| October | 84° | 71° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Red Head
The nearest airport, Northwest Florida Beaches International, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 238 miles away.
The best schools in and around Red Head
Schools across Red Head average an A−, better than 86% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Dune Lakes Elementary SchoolA · 71% proficient
- West Bay Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Vernon Elementary SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Top middle schools
- Emerald Coast Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Surfside Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Vernon Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- South Walton High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- J.r. Arnold High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Vernon High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Red Head school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Red Head 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 Red Head against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Red Head
Is Red Head a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Red Head ranks 42,973rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and tree cover, and lowest on disaster risk and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Red Head expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $207,175. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $59,944 median income, cost of living beats 19% of towns.
Is Red Head safe?
Red Head is safer than 33% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $244 per resident a year.
Compare Red Head with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Red Head. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Red Head 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.
Red Head detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Red Head: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Red Head: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Red Head: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Red Head: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Red Head 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.