Best PlacesSumter County, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Sumter County, 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.
Sumter County ranks 1,089th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on state infrastructure and health care access. The weaker spots are summer heat, car insurance costs, and disaster risk.
The best neighborhoods in Sumter 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 Sumter County
The parts of Sumter 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.
The Villages
More residents vote, more adults hold degrees, and local pay stretches further.
Oxford
Fewer households have young kids and tree cover is thinner.
Lady Lake
Biking is better and health care is easier to reach.
Orange Home
Heat risk is lower, though crime runs higher.
Bushnell, Webster & Lake Panasoffkee
Homes cost less, though incomes run lower.
Wildwood
Fewer homes sit empty, though it is noisier.
Scores across Sumter County run from about the 3rd to the 80th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Sumter County's strengths and weaknesses
Sumter County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. State infrastructure is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Health care access and low taxes follow.
The one real hole is summer heat, near the bottom of the country. Car insurance costs and disaster risk also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Sumter County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of counties
- BikingBetter than 89% of counties
Where Sumter County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 7% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 9% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 16% of counties
- Short commute28.9 minutes each way, better than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Sumter County
A household needs to earn about $99,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sumter County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $78,317, 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 Sumter County'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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sumter County
Sumter County 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 Sumter County.
Who works in Sumter County, and how
Work in Sumter County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Sumter County
Sumter County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less late-night activity than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Sumter County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Sumter County growing, and who is moving in?
Sumter County has grown about 38% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Orlando, FL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Sumter County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Sumter County, month by month
Sumter County sees roughly 132 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 72, with lows near 48. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 72° | 59° | 48° |
| April | 85° | 73° | 61° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 75° |
| October | 87° | 76° | 67° |
Flying in and out of Sumter County
The nearest airport, Orlando Sanford International, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Orlando International, about 52 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sumter County
Schools across Sumter County average a B−, better than 66% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Bushnell Elementary SchoolA · 64% proficient
- Lake Panasoffkee Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Webster Elementary SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Sumter Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Inverness Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Carver Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- Citrus High SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Hernando High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Pasco High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sumter County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sumter 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 Sumter County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Sumter County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 80% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 20% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 84% of counties and health care access beats 99%.
Common questions about living in Sumter County
Is Sumter County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sumter County ranks 1,089th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, health care access, and low taxes, 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 Sumter County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $382,897. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $78,317 median income, cost of living beats 80% of counties.
Is Sumter County safe?
Yes, Sumter County is safer than 85% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $171 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Sumter County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 72 with lows near 48. That works out to about 132 pleasant days a year, more than 84% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Sumter County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are The Villages, Oxford, and Lady Lake. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Sumter County good for families?
Schools beat 66% of counties, crime safety beats 85%, and childcare runs $940 a month.
Is Sumter County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 80% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 60% of counties. About 20% of workers already work from home.
Compare Sumter County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sumter County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sumter 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.
Sumter County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sumter County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sumter County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sumter County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sumter County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sumter 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.