Best PlacesWest Palm Beach, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Palm Beach, 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.
West Palm Beach ranks 382nd of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on disaster risk and car insurance costs. It does better on state infrastructure, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in West Palm Beach
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 West Palm Beach
The parts of West Palm Beach, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the city.
Pineapple Park, Eastpointe & Cypress Lakes
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Downtown West Palm Beach & Progressive North West
Streets are more walkable, though more homes sit empty.
Villages of Palm Beach Lakes
More residents vote and health care is easier to reach.
South Side, Southwest & Parker Ridge
Biking is better, though fewer households have young kids.
Summit Pines, Diamond C Ranch & Boulevard Estates
It is quieter and prices have run up less.
Water Catchment Area, Century Village & River Walk
Homes cost less, though schools score lower.
Long Lake Village & Flamango Park
Heat risk is lower.
Pinewood-West Palm Beach, Northwood Hills & North Tamarind
Crime runs higher and health outcomes score lower.
Palm Beach Lakes, Roosevelt Estates & Castles Congress Avenue
Scores across West Palm Beach run from about the 2nd to the 89th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
West Palm Beach's strengths and weaknesses
West Palm Beach ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. State infrastructure, low taxes, and clean air carry most of that.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: disaster risk, car insurance costs, and an overheated housing market all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where West Palm Beach ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of cities
- TransitBetter than 71% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 70% of cities
Where West Palm Beach ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 8% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in West Palm Beach
A household needs to earn about $104,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Palm Beach home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $81,059, 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 West Palm Beach's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 West Palm Beach
West Palm Beach's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for West Palm Beach.
Who works in West Palm Beach, and how
Work in West Palm Beach 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 82%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in West Palm Beach
West Palm Beach has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of cities and more parkland per resident than 91% of cities. The coast is about 8 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of West Palm Beach and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Palm Beach, month by month
West Palm Beach sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 78, with lows near 57. The comfortable stretch runs November through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 78° | 67° | 57° |
| April | 85° | 76° | 68° |
| July | 92° | 84° | 77° |
| October | 87° | 80° | 73° |
Flying in and out of West Palm Beach
Palm Beach International sits about 2 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.3 million passengers in 2025, with 67 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around West Palm Beach
Schools across West Palm Beach average a C+, better than 44% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Beacon Cove Intermediate SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
- Equestrian Trails ElementaryA+ · 81% proficient
- Marsh Pointe ElementaryA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bak Middle School Of The ArtsA+ · 89% proficient
- Wellington Landings MiddleA+ · 69% proficient
- Independence Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
Top high schools
- Alexander W Dreyfoos Junior School Of The ArtsA+ · 86% proficient
- Suncoast Community High SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Wellington High SchoolA · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Palm Beach school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Palm Beach 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 West Palm Beach against the other 444 cities.
Who West Palm Beach suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in West Palm Beach
Is West Palm Beach a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Palm Beach ranks 382nd of 445 cities. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and clean air, and lowest on disaster risk 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 West Palm Beach expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $396,826. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $81,059 median income, cost of living beats 21% of cities.
Is West Palm Beach safe?
West Palm Beach is safer than 19% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $340 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in West Palm Beach?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 78 with lows near 57. That works out to about 89 pleasant days a year, more than 40% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in West Palm Beach?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Pineapple Park, Eastpointe & Cypress Lakes, Downtown West Palm Beach & Progressive North West, and Villages of Palm Beach Lakes. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is West Palm Beach good for families?
Schools beat 44% of cities, crime safety beats 19%, and childcare runs $1,238 a month.
Is West Palm Beach good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 21% of cities, though advertised internet speeds beat only 41% of cities. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare West Palm Beach with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Palm Beach. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Palm Beach 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.
West Palm Beach detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Palm Beach: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Palm Beach: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Palm Beach: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Palm Beach: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Palm Beach 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.