Best PlacesSouth Side, West Palm Beach, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Side, West Palm Beach, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
South Side, West Palm Beach ranks 3,225th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in South Side, West Palm Beach
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.
South Side, West Palm Beach's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Side, West Palm Beach ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
Where South Side, West Palm Beach ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 34% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in South Side, West Palm Beach
A household needs to earn about $163,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Side, West Palm Beach home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $110,515, 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 South Side, West Palm Beach's effective rate of 0.58%, 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 South Side, West Palm Beach
South Side, West Palm Beach runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for South Side, West Palm Beach.
Who works in South Side, West Palm Beach, and how
Work in South Side, West Palm Beach centers on construction and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in South Side, West Palm Beach
South Side, West Palm Beach has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 2 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of South Side, West Palm Beach and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in South Side, West Palm Beach, month by month
South Side, West Palm Beach sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 78, with lows near 57. The comfortable stretch runs November through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 78° | 67° | 57° |
| April | 85° | 76° | 68° |
| July | 92° | 84° | 77° |
| October | 87° | 80° | 73° |
Flying in and out of South Side, West Palm Beach
Palm Beach International sits about 3 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.3 million passengers in 2025, with 67 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around South Side, West Palm Beach
Schools across South Side, West Palm Beach average a B, better than 66% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- South Olive Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Conniston Middle SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Forest Hill Community High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Side, West Palm Beach school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Side, West Palm Beach 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 South Side, West Palm Beach against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in South Side, West Palm Beach
Is South Side, West Palm Beach a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Side, West Palm Beach ranks 3,225th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and a strong job market, 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 South Side, West Palm Beach expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $644,064. The overall cost of living runs about 60% above the national average. Set against a $110,515 median income, cost of living beats 39% of neighborhoods.
Is South Side, West Palm Beach safe?
South Side, West Palm Beach is safer than 34% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $373 per resident a year.
Compare South Side, West Palm Beach with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Side, West Palm Beach. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Side, West Palm Beach 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.
South Side, West Palm Beach detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Side, West Palm Beach: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Side, West Palm Beach: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Side, West Palm Beach: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Side, West Palm Beach: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Side, West Palm Beach 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.