Best Cities to Live in Florida

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by Chamber of Commerce Team
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With over 1,300 miles of coastline, sunny, warm weather all year round, and lots of professional sports teams, who wouldn’t want to live in Florida? Turns out a lot of people do, as The Sunshine State’s population of over 21 million makes it the 3rd most populous state in the nation.

From Tallahassee to Miami, Florida is home to myriad cities, all with their own unique character, but which are among the best? Let’s have a glance at our ranking of Florida’s top five cities to live in.

1. Palm Beach Gardens

Florida’s best city to live in is Palm Beach Gardens, a community of around 55,000 in the Miami metropolitan area. Palm Beach Gardens is as nice as it sounds, with lush gated communities and a whopping 12 golf courses.

2. Venice

Venice, an idyllic city of around 22,000 in Sarasota County, is Florida’s 2nd most livable city. The city has a thriving arts district, with the largest community theater in the country and a long stretch of beautiful coastline.

3. Ponte Vedra Beach

The third best city in Florida is Ponte Vedra Beach, a coastal community in St. Johns County, which is the wealthiest county in the state. Ponte Vedra is packed with fancy resorts, golf courses, and beaches where watersports are very popular. A great place to live if you can afford it.  

4. Saint Johns

Neighboring St. Johns ranks #4 on the list. The city has a similar character to Ponte Vedra Beach, with golf courses and pleasant gated communities. Due to its status as an in-demand place to live, the population has exploded in the past two decades.

5. Miami Beach

We head back south for #5 Miami Beach, one of the choicest resort cities in the country located on several islands separating the city from Miami proper. Miami Beach’s Art Deco district is a wonderful throwback to the architecture style of the early 1940s.

Best Cities to Live in Florida

RankCity
1Palm Beach Gardens
2Venice
3Ponte Vedra Beach
4Saint Johns
5Miami Beach
6The Villages
7Lake Mary
8Palm City
9Rockledge
10Englewood
11Satellite Beach
12Altamonte Springs
13Longwood
14Winter Springs
15Jupiter
16Dunedin
17Saint Augustine
18Windermere
19Boca Raton
20Niceville
21Melbourne
22Stuart
23Wellington
24Port Orange
25Casselberry
26Gulf Breeze
27Oviedo
28North Miami Beach
29Ormond Beach
30Cantonment
31Merritt Island
32Fleming Island
33Palm Coast
34Jacksonville Beach
35Lady Lake
36Pinellas Park
37Sanford
38Seminole
39Winter Park
40Delray Beach
41Winter Garden
42Fort Walton Beach
43Milton
44Tarpon Springs
45Pembroke Pines
46Wildwood
47Titusville
48Bonita Springs
49North Port
50Clearwater
51Deerfield Beach
52Largo
53Fernandina Beach
54Sebastian
55North Fort Myers
56New Smyrna Beach
57Fort Myers
58Deland
59Mount Dora
60Valrico
61Palm Harbor
62Bradenton
63Vero Beach
64Palmetto
65Brandon
66Ocoee
67Saint Petersburg
68Punta Gorda
69Homosassa
70Summerfield
71Pensacola
72Inverness
73Edgewater
74Hallandale
75Crestview
76Seffner
77Port Charlotte
78Sarasota
79Boynton Beach
80Apopka
81Sebring
82Navarre
83Gainesville
84Tallahassee
85West Palm Beach
86Leesburg
87Palm Bay
88Key West
89Cape Coral
90Daytona Beach
91Lake Worth
92Orlando
93Lutz
94Riverview
95Wesley Chapel
96Pompano Beach
97Dunnellon
98Deltona
99Port Saint Lucie
100Loxahatchee

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Best Cities To Live Florida 2019 badge

Methodology

We ranked a total of 2,509 qualified cities (those with populations above 25,000 and enough data for analysis) by five factors: employment (number of establishments, median earnings); housing (owner-occupied housing with a mortgage, monthly housing costs); quality of life (work commute, poverty levels); education (percentage with a bachelor’s degree or higher); and health (obesity ratios).

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