Best PlacesRussell, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Russell, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Russell ranks 3,053rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Russell
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.
Russell's strengths and weaknesses
Where Russell ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 95% of towns
Where Russell ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 7% of towns
- Short commute38.1 minutes each way, better than only 8% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 20% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 22% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Russell
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Russell home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $124,475, 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 Russell's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 Russell
Russell runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Russell.
Who works in Russell, and how
Work in Russell centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Russell
The coast is about 48 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Russell, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Russell, month by month
Russell sees roughly 111 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 54° | 42° |
| April | 82° | 69° | 56° |
| July | 95° | 82° | 72° |
| October | 85° | 72° | 62° |
Flying in and out of Russell
Jacksonville International sits about 31 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.7 million passengers in 2025, with 86 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Russell
Schools across Russell average a B, better than 77% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Orange Park Elementary SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Rideout Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Lake Asbury Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lake Asbury Junior High SchoolA · 62% proficient
Top high schools
- Fleming Island High SchoolA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Russell school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Russell 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 Russell against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Russell
Is Russell a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Russell ranks 3,053rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, state infrastructure, and what local pay buys, and lowest on car insurance costs and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Russell expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $345,347. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $124,475 median income, cost of living beats 97% of towns.
Is Russell safe?
Yes, Russell is safer than 99% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $78 per resident a year.
Compare Russell with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Russell. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Russell 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.
Russell detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Russell: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Russell: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Russell: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Russell: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Russell 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.