Best PlacesSt. Augustine, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around St. Augustine, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
St. Augustine ranks 548th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in St. Augustine
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.
St. Augustine's strengths and weaknesses
Where St. Augustine ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 89% of cities
- School gradeA−, better than 85% of cities
- QuietBetter than 82% of cities
Where St. Augustine ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 11% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 13% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 18% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 20% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in St. Augustine
A household needs to earn about $120,000 a year to comfortably buy the median St. Augustine home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $104,996, 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 St. Augustine's effective rate of 0.75%, 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 St. Augustine
St. Augustine runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for St. Augustine.
Who works in St. Augustine, and how
Work in St. Augustine centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in St. Augustine
St. Augustine has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of cities and more parkland per resident than 97% of cities. The coast is about 12 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of St. Augustine and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in St. Augustine, month by month
St. Augustine 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 St. Augustine
Jacksonville International sits about 43 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.7 million passengers in 2025, with 86 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around St. Augustine
Schools across St. Augustine average an A−, better than 85% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Hickory Creek Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Ocean Palms Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Liberty Pines AcademyA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Alice B. Landrum Middle SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
- Switzerland Point Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Pacetti Bay Middle SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
Top high schools
- Creekside High SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Allen D Nease Senior High SchoolA · 79% proficient
- Bartram Trail High SchoolA · 76% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every St. Augustine school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
St. Augustine 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 St. Augustine against the other 2,097 cities.
Who St. Augustine suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 80% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 24% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 76% of cities, health care access beats 72%, and it is quieter than 82%.
Common questions about living in St. Augustine
Is St. Augustine a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, St. Augustine ranks 548th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and a strong job market, and lowest on empty homes and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is St. Augustine expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $463,545. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $104,996 median income, cost of living beats 80% of cities.
Is St. Augustine safe?
Yes, St. Augustine is safer than 80% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $165 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in St. Augustine?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 69 with lows near 46. That works out to about 132 pleasant days a year, more than 76% of cities.
Is St. Augustine good for families?
Schools beat 85% of cities, crime safety beats 80%, and childcare runs $1,222 a month.
Compare St. Augustine with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to St. Augustine. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in St. Augustine 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.
St. Augustine detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for St. Augustine: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in St. Augustine: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of St. Augustine: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in St. Augustine: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
St. Augustine 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.