Best PlacesWilliston Highlands, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Williston Highlands, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Williston Highlands ranks 23,514th of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Williston Highlands
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.
Williston Highlands' strengths and weaknesses
Where Williston Highlands ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 86% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 86% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 126 pleasant days a year, better than 83% of towns
Where Williston Highlands ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 7% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Williston Highlands
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Williston Highlands home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,710, 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 Williston Highlands' effective rate of 0.71%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Williston Highlands
Williston Highlands'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 Williston Highlands.
Who works in Williston Highlands, and how
Work in Williston Highlands centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Williston Highlands
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Williston Highlands.
What the weather is like in Williston Highlands, month by month
Williston Highlands sees roughly 126 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 70, with lows near 45. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 70° | 56° | 45° |
| April | 84° | 71° | 58° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 85° | 73° | 64° |
Flying in and out of Williston Highlands
The nearest airport, Gainesville Regional, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 94 miles away.
The best schools in and around Williston Highlands
Schools across Williston Highlands average a B−, better than 56% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Williston Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Williston Middle High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Williston Highlands school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Williston Highlands 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 Williston Highlands against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Williston Highlands
Is Williston Highlands a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Williston Highlands ranks 23,514th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and a strong job market, and lowest on summer heat and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Williston Highlands expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $229,709. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $75,710 median income, cost of living beats 56% of towns.
Is Williston Highlands safe?
Yes, Williston Highlands is safer than 86% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $130 per resident a year.
Compare Williston Highlands with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Williston Highlands. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Williston Highlands 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.
Williston Highlands detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Williston Highlands: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Williston Highlands: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Williston Highlands: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Williston Highlands: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Williston Highlands 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.