Best PlacesUpper Grand Lagoon, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Upper Grand Lagoon, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Upper Grand Lagoon ranks 11,503rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Upper Grand Lagoon
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.
Upper Grand Lagoon's strengths and weaknesses
Where Upper Grand Lagoon ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 98% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- TransitBetter than 94% of towns
Where Upper Grand Lagoon ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 8% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Upper Grand Lagoon
A household needs to earn about $98,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Upper Grand Lagoon home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $84,769, 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 Upper Grand Lagoon's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 Upper Grand Lagoon
Upper Grand Lagoon 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 Upper Grand Lagoon.
Who works in Upper Grand Lagoon, and how
Work in Upper Grand Lagoon centers on hospitality & food 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 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Upper Grand Lagoon
Upper Grand Lagoon has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of towns. The coast is about 3 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Upper Grand Lagoon and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Upper Grand Lagoon, month by month
Upper Grand Lagoon sees roughly 109 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 46. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 54° | 46° |
| April | 77° | 69° | 60° |
| July | 89° | 83° | 76° |
| October | 82° | 73° | 64° |
Flying in and out of Upper Grand Lagoon
The nearest airport, Northwest Florida Beaches International, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 244 miles away.
The best schools in and around Upper Grand Lagoon
Schools across Upper Grand Lagoon average an A−, better than 86% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Patronis Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Breakfast Point AcademyA · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Surfside Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- J.r. Arnold High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Upper Grand Lagoon school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Upper Grand Lagoon 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 Upper Grand Lagoon against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Upper Grand Lagoon
Is Upper Grand Lagoon a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Upper Grand Lagoon ranks 11,503rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, state infrastructure, and biking, and lowest on disaster risk and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Upper Grand Lagoon expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $382,547. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $84,769 median income, cost of living beats 55% of towns.
Is Upper Grand Lagoon safe?
Yes, Upper Grand Lagoon is safer than 89% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $125 per resident a year.
Compare Upper Grand Lagoon with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Upper Grand Lagoon. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Upper Grand Lagoon 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.
Upper Grand Lagoon detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Upper Grand Lagoon: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Upper Grand Lagoon: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Upper Grand Lagoon: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Upper Grand Lagoon: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Upper Grand Lagoon 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.