Best PlacesSanta Rosa County, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Santa Rosa County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Santa Rosa County ranks 658th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $93,512, everyday costs sit below the national average, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are disaster risk, car insurance costs, and long commutes.
The best neighborhoods in Santa Rosa County
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.
The best areas in Santa Rosa County
The parts of Santa Rosa County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Harold
Schools score higher, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Navarre
More households have young kids and heat risk is lower.
Gulf Breeze
More adults hold degrees, though more homes sit empty.
Milton
It is quieter and crime runs lower.
Pace
Scores close to Milton, except that commutes are shorter here.
East Milton & Bagdad
Homes cost less and prices have run up less.
Santa Rosa County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 7% of the country and others in the top 8%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Santa Rosa County's strengths and weaknesses
Santa Rosa County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. State infrastructure is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Low taxes and low crime follow.
The one real hole is disaster risk, near the bottom of the country. Car insurance costs and long commutes also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Santa Rosa County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 92% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 89% of counties
Where Santa Rosa County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 3% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of counties
- Short commute30.5 minutes each way, better than only 14% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 16% of counties
- Cheap childcare$932 a month, better than only 24% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Santa Rosa County
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Santa Rosa County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $93,512, 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 Santa Rosa County's effective rate of 0.59%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Santa Rosa County
Santa Rosa County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Santa Rosa County.
Who works in Santa Rosa County, and how
Work in Santa Rosa County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Santa Rosa County
Santa Rosa County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less late-night activity than most counties. The coast is about 26 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Santa Rosa County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Santa Rosa County growing, and who is moving in?
Santa Rosa County has grown about 28% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Pensacola, FL metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Santa Rosa County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Santa Rosa County, month by month
Santa Rosa County sees roughly 128 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 52° | 42° |
| April | 79° | 67° | 56° |
| July | 92° | 82° | 74° |
| October | 83° | 71° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Santa Rosa County
The nearest airport, Pensacola International, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 196 miles away.
The best schools in and around Santa Rosa County
Schools across Santa Rosa County average a B+, better than 84% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Gulf Breeze Elementary SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- West Navarre Intermediate SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Holley-navarre IntermediateA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Gulf Breeze Middle SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Thomas L Sims Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
- Holley-navarre Middle SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Gulf Breeze High SchoolA · 74% proficient
- Pace High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Navarre High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Santa Rosa County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Santa Rosa County 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 Santa Rosa County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Santa Rosa County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 89% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Santa Rosa County
Is Santa Rosa County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Santa Rosa County ranks 658th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and low crime, and lowest on disaster risk and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Santa Rosa County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $329,584. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $93,512 median income, cost of living beats 89% of counties.
Is Santa Rosa County safe?
Yes, Santa Rosa County is safer than 95% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $141 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Santa Rosa County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 64 with lows near 42. That works out to about 128 pleasant days a year, more than 81% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Santa Rosa County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Harold, Navarre, and Gulf Breeze. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Santa Rosa County good for families?
Schools beat 84% of counties, crime safety beats 95%, and childcare runs $932 a month.
Is Santa Rosa County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 89% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 86% of counties. About 14% of workers already work from home.
Compare Santa Rosa County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Santa Rosa County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Santa Rosa County 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.
Santa Rosa County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Santa Rosa County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Santa Rosa County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Santa Rosa County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Santa Rosa County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Santa Rosa County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.