Best PlacesSpuds, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Spuds, 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.
Spuds ranks 14,040th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Spuds
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.
Spuds' strengths and weaknesses
Where Spuds ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- BikingBetter than 90% of towns
- TransitBetter than 89% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 86% of towns
Where Spuds ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 5% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 13% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,222 a month, better than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Spuds
A household needs to earn about $172,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Spuds home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $74,894, 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 Spuds' effective rate of 0.68%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Spuds
Spuds runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Spuds.
Who works in Spuds, and how
Work in Spuds centers on hospitality & food and construction. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Spuds
The coast is about 28 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Spuds, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Spuds, month by month
Spuds sees roughly 132 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 69, with lows near 46. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 69° | 57° | 46° |
| April | 80° | 70° | 60° |
| July | 90° | 81° | 75° |
| October | 82° | 75° | 67° |
Flying in and out of Spuds
The nearest airport, Daytona Beach International, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 55 miles away.
The best schools in and around Spuds
Schools across Spuds average a B+, better than 73% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- South Woods Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Gamble Rogers Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Pedro Menendez High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Spuds school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Spuds 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 Spuds against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Spuds
Is Spuds a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Spuds ranks 14,040th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and biking, and lowest on education levels 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 Spuds expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $667,025. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $74,894 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is Spuds safe?
Spuds is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $244 per resident a year.
Compare Spuds with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Spuds. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Spuds 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.
Spuds detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Spuds: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Spuds: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Spuds: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Spuds: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Spuds 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.