Best PlacesVolusia County, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Volusia County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Volusia County ranks 1,058th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 18 minutes away. Its strengths are state infrastructure and low taxes. The cost shows up in summer heat, car insurance costs, and disaster risk.
The best neighborhoods in Volusia 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 Volusia County
The parts of Volusia 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.
New Smyrna Beach & Port Orange
Crime runs lower, schools score higher, and more residents vote.
DeBary & Orange City
Fewer homes sit empty.
Deltona
More households have young kids, though commutes are longer.
DeLand
Tree cover is thicker and heat risk is lower.
Edgewater
Prices have run up more and incomes run lower.
Ormond Beach & Daytona Beach
Scores close to Edgewater, except that transit reaches more jobs here.
Pierson
It is quieter, though biking is worse.
South Daytona & Daytona Beach Shores
Streets are more walkable, though local pay stretches less far.
Volusia County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 6% of the country and others in the top 3%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Volusia County's strengths and weaknesses
Volusia County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. State infrastructure is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Low taxes and fast internet 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 Volusia County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 94% of counties
- TransitBetter than 92% of counties
- BikingBetter than 89% of counties
Where Volusia County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 21% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Volusia County
A household needs to earn about $81,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Volusia County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $74,246; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Volusia County's effective rate of 0.77%, 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 Volusia County
Volusia 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 Volusia County.
Who works in Volusia County, and how
Work in Volusia County 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 81%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Volusia County
Volusia County has more late-night spots per resident than 78% of counties. The coast is about 18 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Volusia County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Volusia County growing, and who is moving in?
Volusia County has grown about 19% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Orlando, FL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Volusia County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Volusia County, month by month
Volusia County sees roughly 141 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 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 | 83° | 71° | 60° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 74° |
| October | 85° | 76° | 68° |
Flying in and out of Volusia County
The nearest airport, Daytona Beach International, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Orlando International, about 46 miles away.
The best schools in and around Volusia County
Schools across Volusia County average a B, better than 78% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sweetwater Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Pine Trail Elementary SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Coronado Beach Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Creekside Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Ormond Beach Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Silver Sands Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Spruce Creek High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- New Smyrna Beach High SchoolB+ · 56% proficient
- Seabreeze High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Volusia County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Volusia 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 Volusia County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Volusia County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Volusia County
Is Volusia County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Volusia County ranks 1,058th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and fast internet, 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 Volusia County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $310,115. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $74,246 median income, cost of living beats 55% of counties.
Is Volusia County safe?
Yes, Volusia County is safer than 80% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $189 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Volusia County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 72 with lows near 48. That works out to about 141 pleasant days a year, more than 89% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Volusia County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are New Smyrna Beach & Port Orange, DeBary & Orange City, and Deltona. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Volusia County good for families?
Schools beat 78% of counties, crime safety beats 80%, and childcare runs $820 a month.
Is Volusia County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 55% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 94% of counties. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Volusia County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Volusia County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Volusia 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.
Volusia County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Volusia County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Volusia County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Volusia County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Volusia County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Volusia 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.