Best PlacesWinter Haven, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Winter Haven, 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.
Winter Haven ranks 1,687th of 2,098 U.S. cities 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 Winter Haven
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 Winter Haven
The parts of Winter Haven, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Cypress Grove, Mandolin & Terranova
Pine Crest Heights
Oakwood Estates
Wahneta
Jan Phyl Village, Lake Thomas Woods & Orangewood
Silvercrest & Lake Buckeye Estates
Winter Haven shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 4% of the country and others in the top 9%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Winter Haven's strengths and weaknesses
Where Winter Haven ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of cities
- QuietBetter than 88% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 79% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 135 pleasant days a year, better than 78% of cities
Where Winter Haven ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 5% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 7% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 12% of cities
- Household income$64,232 median, better than only 14% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Winter Haven
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Winter Haven home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,232, 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 Winter Haven'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 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 Winter Haven
Winter Haven'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 Winter Haven.
Who works in Winter Haven, and how
Work in Winter Haven centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Winter Haven
Winter Haven has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of cities and more parkland per resident than 81% of cities. The coast is about 52 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Winter Haven and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Winter Haven, month by month
Winter Haven sees roughly 135 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 74, with lows near 50. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 74° | 61° | 50° |
| April | 87° | 74° | 63° |
| July | 94° | 83° | 75° |
| October | 89° | 78° | 69° |
Flying in and out of Winter Haven
Orlando International sits about 38 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 Winter Haven
Schools across Winter Haven average a C, better than 27% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Frank E. Brigham AcademyA · 67% proficient
- Chain Of Lakes Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Cypress Junction MontessoriB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jewett Middle Academy MagnetB · 45% proficient
- Lake Alfred Polytech AcademyB− · 41% proficient
- Bartow Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- George W. Jenkins Senior HighB− · 43% proficient
- Bartow Senior High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Winter Haven Senior High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Winter Haven school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Winter Haven 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 Winter Haven against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Winter Haven suits
Families
Schools land around the 27th percentile and crime safety beats 58%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Winter Haven
Is Winter Haven a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Winter Haven ranks 1,687th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and quiet, and lowest on summer heat and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Winter Haven expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $244,176. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $64,232 median income, cost of living beats 22% of cities.
Is Winter Haven safe?
Yes, Winter Haven is safer than 58% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $205 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Winter Haven?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 74 with lows near 50. That works out to about 135 pleasant days a year, more than 78% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Winter Haven?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Cypress Grove, Mandolin & Terranova, Pine Crest Heights, and Oakwood Estates. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Winter Haven with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Winter Haven. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Winter Haven 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.
Winter Haven detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Winter Haven: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Winter Haven: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Winter Haven: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Winter Haven: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Winter Haven 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.