Best PlacesStarke, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Starke, 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.
Starke ranks 34,619th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Starke
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.
Starke's strengths and weaknesses
Where Starke ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 130 pleasant days a year, better than 85% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 82% of towns
- BikingBetter than 78% of towns
Where Starke ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 16% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Starke
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Starke home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,109, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Starke's effective rate of 0.59%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Starke
Starke's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Starke.
Who works in Starke, and how
Work in Starke centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Starke
Starke has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Starke and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Starke, month by month
Starke sees roughly 130 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 44. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66° | 54° | 44° |
| April | 81° | 69° | 58° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 73° |
| October | 82° | 71° | 63° |
Flying in and out of Starke
The nearest airport, Gainesville Regional, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 46 miles away.
The best schools in and around Starke
Schools across Starke average a B−, better than 54% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Orange Park Elementary SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Keystone Heights ElementaryA · 71% proficient
- Lawtey Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Green Cove Springs Junior High SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Wilkinson Junior High SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Lake Butler Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Union County High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Keystone Heights Junior/senior HighB+ · 51% proficient
- Bradford High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Starke school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Starke 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 Starke against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Starke
Is Starke a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Starke ranks 34,619th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and the weather, and lowest on summer heat 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 Starke expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $236,664. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $65,109 median income, cost of living beats 37% of towns.
Is Starke safe?
Starke is safer than 31% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $267 per resident a year.
Compare Starke with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Starke. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Starke 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.
Starke detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Starke: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Starke: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Starke: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Starke: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Starke 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.