Best PlacesSouthgate, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Southgate, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Southgate ranks 13,212th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Southgate
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.
Southgate's strengths and weaknesses
Where Southgate ranks high
- TransitBetter than 99% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 98% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 95% of towns
Where Southgate ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 7% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Southgate
A household needs to earn about $107,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Southgate home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $76,850, 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 Southgate's effective rate of 0.63%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Southgate
Southgate runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Southgate.
Who works in Southgate, and how
Work in Southgate centers on retail trade 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 82%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Southgate
Southgate has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of towns and more parkland per resident than 90% of towns. The coast is about 8 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Southgate and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Southgate, month by month
Southgate sees roughly 158 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 74, with lows near 51. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 74° | 62° | 51° |
| April | 85° | 74° | 64° |
| July | 92° | 83° | 76° |
| October | 88° | 77° | 70° |
Flying in and out of Southgate
The nearest airport, Sarasota/Bradenton International, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Tampa International, about 46 miles away.
The best schools in and around Southgate
Schools across Southgate average an A−, better than 86% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Southside Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Phillippi Shores Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Alta Vista Elementary SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Brookside Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Sarasota High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Southgate school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Southgate 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 Southgate against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Southgate
Is Southgate a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Southgate ranks 13,212th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, state infrastructure, and biking, and lowest on summer heat and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Southgate expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $420,937. The overall cost of living runs about 16% above the national average. Set against a $76,850 median income, cost of living beats 28% of towns.
Is Southgate safe?
Yes, Southgate is safer than 82% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $140 per resident a year.
Compare Southgate with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Southgate. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Southgate 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.
Southgate detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Southgate: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Southgate: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Southgate: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Southgate: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Southgate 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.