Best PlacesRiviera Bay, St. Petersburg, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg, 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.
Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg ranks 1,758th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg
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.
Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg's strengths and weaknesses
Where Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 81% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than 79% of neighborhoods
Where Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 13% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 30% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg
A household needs to earn about $111,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $100,809; 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 Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg's effective rate of 0.75%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg
Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg.
Who works in Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg, and how
Work in Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg
Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 7 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg, month by month
Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg sees roughly 150 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 73, with lows near 52. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 73° | 61° | 52° |
| April | 85° | 74° | 65° |
| July | 93° | 84° | 77° |
| October | 87° | 78° | 71° |
Flying in and out of Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg
The nearest airport, St Pete-Clearwater International, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Tampa International, about 11 miles away.
The best schools in and around Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg
Schools across Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg average a B−, better than 61% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Shore Acres Elementary SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Lynch Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Sawgrass Lake Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Meadowlawn Middle SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Northeast High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg 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 Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg
Is Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg ranks 1,758th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and fast internet, and lowest on summer heat and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $427,319. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $100,809 median income, cost of living beats 81% of neighborhoods.
Is Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg safe?
Yes, Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg is safer than 77% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $202 per resident a year.
Compare Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg 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.
Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Riviera Bay, St. Petersburg 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.