Best PlacesShady Rest, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Shady Rest, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Shady Rest ranks 46,614th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Shady Rest
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.
Shady Rest's strengths and weaknesses
Where Shady Rest ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 86% of towns
- Cheap childcare$575 a month, better than 81% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 76% of towns
Where Shady Rest ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of towns
- Household income$45,776 median, better than only 8% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Shady Rest
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Shady Rest home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $45,776, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Shady Rest's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 Shady Rest
Shady Rest'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 Shady Rest.
Who works in Shady Rest, and how
Work in Shady Rest centers on public administration and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Shady Rest
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Shady Rest.
What the weather is like in Shady Rest, month by month
Shady Rest sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 53° | 40° |
| April | 83° | 69° | 54° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 86° | 72° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Shady Rest
The nearest airport, Tallahassee International, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 168 miles away.
The best schools in and around Shady Rest
Schools across Shady Rest average a C, better than 40% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Gadsden Elementary Magnet SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Havana Magnet SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Stewart Street Elementary SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Gadsden County High SchoolD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Shady Rest school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Shady Rest 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 Shady Rest against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Shady Rest
Is Shady Rest a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Shady Rest ranks 46,614th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and fast internet, and lowest on crime 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 Shady Rest expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $206,425. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $45,776 median income, cost of living beats 8% of towns.
Is Shady Rest safe?
Shady Rest is safer than 5% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $483 per resident a year.
Compare Shady Rest with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Shady Rest. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Shady Rest 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.
Shady Rest detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Shady Rest: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Shady Rest: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Shady Rest: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Shady Rest: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Shady Rest 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.