Best PlacesSt. Lucie County, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in St. Lucie County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
St. Lucie County ranks 2,018th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 16 minutes away. Its strengths are state infrastructure and low taxes. The cost shows up in disaster risk, summer heat, and an overheated housing market.
The best neighborhoods in St. Lucie County
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.
The best areas in St. Lucie County
The parts of St. Lucie County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Port St. Lucie
Fewer homes sit empty, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Hutchinson Island South
Fewer households have young kids and heat risk is higher.
Lakewood Park
Prices have run up less and homes cost less.
Indian River Estates
It is quieter.
Fort Pierce
Streets are more walkable, though crime runs higher.
Fort Pierce North & Fort Pierce South
Fewer residents vote and fewer adults hold degrees.
Scores across St. Lucie County run from about the 2nd to the 78th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
St. Lucie County's strengths and weaknesses
St. Lucie County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. State infrastructure is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Low taxes and cell coverage follow.
The one real hole is disaster risk, near the bottom of the country. Summer heat and an overheated housing market also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where St. Lucie County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 88% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 88% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 86% of counties
Where St. Lucie County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in St. Lucie County
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median St. Lucie County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $74,391, 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. Lucie County's effective rate of 0.91%, 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 7 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. Lucie County
St. Lucie County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for St. Lucie County.
Who works in St. Lucie County, and how
Work in St. Lucie County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in St. Lucie County
St. Lucie County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less late-night activity than most counties. The coast is about 16 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of St. Lucie County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is St. Lucie County growing, and who is moving in?
St. Lucie County has grown about 35% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Miami, FL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving St. Lucie County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in St. Lucie County, month by month
St. Lucie County sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 74, with lows near 58. The comfortable stretch runs November through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 74° | 66° | 58° |
| April | 83° | 76° | 69° |
| July | 91° | 83° | 77° |
| October | 85° | 79° | 74° |
Flying in and out of St. Lucie County
The nearest airport, Vero Beach Regional, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Palm Beach International, about 48 miles away.
The best schools in and around St. Lucie County
Schools across St. Lucie County average a B, better than 70% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Fau/slcsd Palm Pointe Educational Research School @ TraditioA · 71% proficient
- Fairlawn Elementary SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Morningside Elementary SchoolA · 66% proficient
Top middle schools
- Southport Middle SchoolB+ · 47% proficient
- Southern Oaks Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Forest Grove Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Somerset College Preparatory AcademyA− · 62% proficient
- Lincoln Park AcademyA− · 62% proficient
- Treasure Coast High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every St. Lucie County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
St. Lucie County 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. Lucie County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who St. Lucie County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in St. Lucie County
Is St. Lucie County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, St. Lucie County ranks 2,018th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and cell coverage, and lowest on disaster risk 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. Lucie County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $340,512. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $74,391 median income, cost of living beats 61% of counties.
Is St. Lucie County safe?
Yes, St. Lucie County is safer than 59% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $223 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in St. Lucie County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 74 with lows near 58. That works out to about 112 pleasant days a year, more than 69% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in St. Lucie County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Port St. Lucie, Hutchinson Island South, and Lakewood Park. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is St. Lucie County good for families?
Schools beat 70% of counties, crime safety beats 59%, and childcare runs $937 a month.
Is St. Lucie County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 61% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 86% of counties. About 13% of workers already work from home.
Compare St. Lucie County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to St. Lucie County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in St. Lucie County 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. Lucie County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for St. Lucie County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in St. Lucie County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of St. Lucie County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in St. Lucie County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
St. Lucie County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.