Best PlacesStuart, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Stuart, 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.
Stuart ranks 1,405th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Stuart
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.
Stuart's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stuart ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 81% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of cities
Where Stuart ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 3% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 12% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Stuart
A household needs to earn about $96,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stuart home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $74,215, 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 Stuart's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 Stuart
Stuart 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 Stuart.
Who works in Stuart, and how
Work in Stuart 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 83%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Stuart
Stuart has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of cities and more parkland per resident than 95% of cities. The coast is about 11 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Stuart and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Stuart, month by month
Stuart sees roughly 114 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 Stuart
Palm Beach International sits about 34 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.3 million passengers in 2025, with 67 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Stuart
Schools across Stuart average a B+, better than 68% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Palm City Elementary SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- Bessey Creek Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Jensen Beach Elementary SchoolA · 66% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hidden Oaks Middle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Stuart Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Dr. David L. Anderson Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Clark Advanced Learning CenterA · 68% proficient
- Jensen Beach High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Martin County High SchoolB+ · 56% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stuart school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stuart 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 Stuart against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Stuart suits
Retirees
The weather beats 68% of cities, health care access beats 64%, and it is quieter than 58%.
Common questions about living in Stuart
Is Stuart a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stuart ranks 1,405th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low crime, state infrastructure, and low taxes, and lowest on summer heat and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Stuart expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $371,209. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $74,215 median income, cost of living beats 38% of cities.
Is Stuart safe?
Yes, Stuart is safer than 99% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $95 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Stuart?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 74 with lows near 58. That works out to about 114 pleasant days a year, more than 68% of cities.
Is Stuart good for families?
Schools beat 68% of cities, crime safety beats 99%, and childcare runs $973 a month.
Compare Stuart with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stuart. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stuart 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.
Stuart detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stuart: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stuart: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stuart: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stuart: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stuart 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.