Best PlacesSuwannee County, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Suwannee County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Suwannee County ranks 2,697th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Suwannee 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 Suwannee County
The parts of Suwannee 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.
O'Brien
It is quieter, more residents vote, and schools score higher.
Houston & Wellborn
Live Oak
More households have young kids, though tree cover is thinner.
Scores across Suwannee County run from about the 4th to the 57th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Suwannee County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Suwannee County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of counties
- Cheap childcare$547 a month, better than 84% of counties
- School gradeB, better than 75% of counties
- QuietBetter than 75% of counties
Where Suwannee County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 7% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 10% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 12% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Suwannee County
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Suwannee County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,183, 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 Suwannee County's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 Suwannee County
Suwannee County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Suwannee County.
Who works in Suwannee County, and how
Work in Suwannee County centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Suwannee County
Suwannee County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Suwannee County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Suwannee County growing, and who is moving in?
Suwannee County has grown about 9% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Miami, FL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Suwannee County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Suwannee County, month by month
Suwannee County sees roughly 101 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 67, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 67° | 52° | 39° |
| April | 83° | 68° | 53° |
| July | 94° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 85° | 70° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Suwannee County
The nearest airport, Valdosta Regional, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 80 miles away.
The best schools in and around Suwannee County
Schools across Suwannee County average a B, better than 75% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Pinemount Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Lafayette Elementary SchoolA · 64% proficient
- High Springs Community SchoolA− · 61% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lake City Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Suwannee Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Lafayette High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Fort White High SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Branford High SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Suwannee County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Suwannee 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 Suwannee County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Suwannee County suits
Common questions about living in Suwannee County
Is Suwannee County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Suwannee County ranks 2,697th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and affordable childcare, 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 Suwannee County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $186,720. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $57,183 median income, cost of living beats 10% of counties.
Is Suwannee County safe?
Suwannee County is safer than 53% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $228 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Suwannee County?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 67 with lows near 39. That works out to about 101 pleasant days a year, more than 61% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Suwannee County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are O'Brien, Houston & Wellborn, and Live Oak. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Suwannee County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Suwannee County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Suwannee 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.
Suwannee County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Suwannee County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Suwannee County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Suwannee County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Suwannee County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Suwannee 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.