Best PlacesWaverly, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Waverly, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Waverly ranks 23,798th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Waverly
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.
Waverly's strengths and weaknesses
Where Waverly ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 95% of towns
- TransitBetter than 94% of towns
Where Waverly ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Waverly
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Waverly home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $55,673, 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 Waverly's effective rate of 0.76%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Waverly
Waverly runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Waverly.
Who works in Waverly, and how
Work in Waverly centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Waverly
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Waverly.
What the weather is like in Waverly, month by month
Waverly sees roughly 146 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 71, with lows near 51. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 71° | 60° | 51° |
| April | 84° | 73° | 62° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 74° |
| October | 85° | 76° | 69° |
Flying in and out of Waverly
Orlando International sits about 37 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 28.1 million passengers in 2025, with 223 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Waverly
Schools across Waverly average a C, better than 39% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Spook Hill Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mclaughlin Academy Of ExcellenceC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Winter Haven Senior High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Waverly school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Waverly 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 Waverly against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Waverly
Is Waverly a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Waverly ranks 23,798th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, cell coverage, and low taxes, and lowest on tree cover and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Waverly expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $204,300. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $55,673 median income, cost of living beats 16% of towns.
Is Waverly safe?
Yes, Waverly is safer than 93% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $108 per resident a year.
Compare Waverly with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Waverly. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Waverly 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.
Waverly detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Waverly: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Waverly: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Waverly: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Waverly: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Waverly 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.