Best PlacesSeminole County, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Seminole 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.
Seminole County ranks 169th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $97,188, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are car insurance costs, summer heat, and an overheated housing market.
The best neighborhoods in Seminole 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 Seminole County
The parts of Seminole 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.
Geneva
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and more adults hold degrees.
Oviedo
It is quieter and crime runs lower.
Lake Mary
More residents vote, though homes cost more.
Wekiwa Springs & Longwood
Heat risk is higher.
Casselberry & Winter Park
Fewer households have young kids and tree cover is thinner.
Winter Springs
Biking is worse.
Altamonte Springs
Transit reaches more jobs and streets are more walkable.
Sanford
Health care is harder to reach.
Seminole County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 5% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Seminole County's strengths and weaknesses
Seminole 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. Population health and low taxes follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Car insurance costs, summer heat, and an overheated housing market hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Seminole County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 93% of counties
Where Seminole County ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 14% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,027 a month, better than only 15% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Seminole County
A household needs to earn about $104,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Seminole County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $97,188; 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 Seminole County's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 Seminole County
Seminole 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 Seminole County.
Who works in Seminole County, and how
Work in Seminole County centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Seminole County
The coast is about 47 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Seminole County, which the map shows.
Is Seminole County growing, and who is moving in?
Seminole County has grown about 12% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Orlando, FL metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Seminole County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Seminole County, month by month
Seminole County sees roughly 131 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 74, with lows near 48. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 74° | 60° | 48° |
| April | 86° | 72° | 61° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 75° |
| October | 86° | 76° | 68° |
Flying in and out of Seminole County
The nearest airport, Orlando Sanford International, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Orlando International, about 19 miles away.
The best schools in and around Seminole County
Schools across Seminole County average an A−, better than 89% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Choices In Learning CharterA+ · 86% proficient
- Heathrow Elementary SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Wilson Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jackson Heights Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
- Chiles Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
- Rock Lake Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
Top high schools
- Hagerty High SchoolA · 74% proficient
- Crooms Academy Of Information TechnologyA · 73% proficient
- Oviedo High SchoolA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Seminole County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Seminole 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 Seminole County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Seminole County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 22% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Seminole County
Is Seminole County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Seminole County ranks 169th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, population health, and low taxes, and lowest on car insurance costs and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Seminole County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $406,680. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $97,188 median income, cost of living beats 94% of counties.
Is Seminole County safe?
Yes, Seminole County is safer than 78% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $181 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Seminole County?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 74 with lows near 48. That works out to about 131 pleasant days a year, more than 82% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Seminole County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Geneva, Oviedo, and Lake Mary. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Seminole County good for families?
Schools beat 89% of counties, crime safety beats 78%, and childcare runs $1,027 a month.
Is Seminole County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 88% of counties. About 22% of workers already work from home.
Compare Seminole County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Seminole County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Seminole 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.
Seminole County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Seminole County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Seminole County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Seminole County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Seminole County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Seminole 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.