10 Best Counties To Live In Florida [2023]

Some of you might be asking yourself, at this very moment, is Florida a good place?

The answer is unequivocally yes… if you know where to locate the best counties to live in Florida.

Lucky for you, we’re here to help you identify the best counties to live in the Sunshine State based on the most recently available data from the Census. And this isn’t our first rodeo — we’ve been using Saturday Night Science to rank places for years.

The question becomes if you wanted to relocate to the best part of Florida, where would you go? To answer that, we looked at crime, cost of living, and demographic data for all 67 counties in the state.

After the analytic dust settled, we identified the 10 best counties to live in Sunshine State for 2023.

The 10 Best Counties To Live In Florida For 2023

St. Johns County is the county to be when it comes to living the good life in Florida. And you should avoid Glades County if you can — at least according to the data.

Now you know exactly where to move in Florida. Keep on reading for more about the top ten and a detailed methodology.

Or, check out the best places to live in Florida and the cheapest places to live in Florida.

Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table

The Best Counties To Live In Florida For 2023

1. St. Johns County

Source: Public domain

Biggest Place: Fruit Cove
Population: 265,724
Median Income: $88,794 (best)
Median Home Price: $348,100 (3rd best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.7% (19th best)
More on St. Johns County: Data

2. Sarasota County

Source: Wikipedia User Ebyabe | GFDL

Biggest Place: North Port
Population: 429,336
Median Income: $69,490 (10th best)
Median Home Price: $286,000 (8th best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.6% (4th best)
More on Sarasota County: Data

3. Seminole County

Source: Wikipedia User Xavier6984 | GFDL

Biggest Place: Sanford
Population: 467,382
Median Income: $73,002 (7th best)
Median Home Price: $280,100 (9th best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.5% (14th best)
More on Seminole County: Data

4. Nassau County

Source: Wikipedia User bubba73 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Biggest Place: Yulee
Population: 88,492
Median Income: $77,504 (2nd best)
Median Home Price: $264,100 (14th best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.8% (20th best)
More on Nassau County: Data

5. Martin County

Source: Wikipedia User Daniel Di Palma | CC BY-SA 4.0

Biggest Place: Palm City
Population: 158,323
Median Income: $69,769 (9th best)
Median Home Price: $306,700 (6th best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.6% (15th best)
More on Martin County: Data

6. Wakulla County

Biggest Place: Crawfordville
Population: 33,144
Median Income: $72,941 (8th best)
Median Home Price: $182,400 (36th best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.3% (best)
More on Wakulla County: Data

7. Clay County

Source: Wikipedia User Excel23 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Biggest Place: Lakeside
Population: 216,308
Median Income: $74,059 (5th best)
Median Home Price: $212,200 (29th best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.8% (23rd best)
More on Clay County: Data

8. Okaloosa County

Source: Wikipedia User Ebyabe | GFDL

Biggest Place: Crestview
Population: 209,230
Median Income: $67,390 (13th best)
Median Home Price: $248,400 (16th best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.9% (7th best)
More on Okaloosa County: Data

9. Santa Rosa County

Source: Wikipedia User Sunpowerpack | CC BY-SA 3.0

Biggest Place: Navarre
Population: 184,345
Median Income: $77,260 (3rd best)
Median Home Price: $231,800 (23rd best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.9% (26th best)
More on Santa Rosa County: Data

10. Sumter County

Source: Wikipedia User Ebyabe | GFDL

Biggest Place: The Villages
Population: 127,335
Median Income: $63,323 (20th best)
Median Home Price: $280,100 (9th best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.5% (4best)
More on Sumter County: Data

Best Places To Raise A Family In Florida

Methodology: How do you determine which Florida county is the best?

To give you the best county in Florida, we have to look at a handful of metrics that signal the quality of a place. To do that, we made assumptions about what’s in a “best county” and what isn’t. For reference, we are trying to make the kind of argument you’d make at a bar using facts, Saturday Night Science.

With that in mind, we went to two of the best data sources on the internet. Namely, the American Community Survey data and FBI Crime data for the most recent period.

We paid particular attention to:

Violent Crime Rates
Property Crime Rates
Median Home Values
Median Income
Unemployment Rates
Adult Education Levels
Health Insurance Coverage
Poverty Rates

We then ranked each county in Florida across each of the criteria from one to 67, with one being the best.

Taking the average rank across all criteria, we created a quality of life score with the county posting the lowest overall score being the “Best County To Live In Florida.”

The result is some of the safest, quietest, and best counties to raise a family in the Sunshine State.

We updated this article for 2023. This report is our tenth time ranking the best counties to live in Florida.

Read on to see why St. Johns County is the best county, while Glades County is probably in contention for being the worst county in Florida.

Summary: The Best Counties In Florida To Call Home For 2023

Living in Florida can vary from one part of the state to the next — who woulda thought?

But now you know the outstanding parts and the parts to avoid, and that’s why you came here to learn at the end of the day.

You are welcome.

Here’s a look at the worst counties in Florida according to the data:

Glades County
Hamilton County
Desoto County

For more Florida reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Best Counties In Florida

Rank	County	Population	Median Income	Median Home Price
1	St. Johns County	265,724	$88,794	$348,100
2	Sarasota County	429,336	$69,490	$286,000
3	Seminole County	467,382	$73,002	$280,100
4	Nassau County	88,492	$77,504	$264,100
5	Martin County	158,323	$69,769	$306,700
6	Wakulla County	33,144	$72,941	$182,400
7	Clay County	216,308	$74,059	$212,200
8	Okaloosa County	209,230	$67,390	$248,400
9	Santa Rosa County	184,345	$77,260	$231,800
10	Sumter County	127,335	$63,323	$280,100
11	Monroe County	82,244	$73,153	$613,400
12	Collier County	372,797	$75,543	$374,700
13	Brevard County	601,573	$63,632	$235,500
14	Flagler County	113,888	$62,305	$247,000
15	Charlotte County	184,837	$57,887	$226,700
16	Pinellas County	957,989	$60,451	$238,400
17	Walton County	73,456	$68,111	$274,500
18	Manatee County	394,824	$64,964	$267,300
19	Indian River County	158,002	$61,594	$242,100
20	Gulf County	15,205	$53,812	$190,700
21	Volusia County	548,783	$56,786	$212,900
22	Lee County	752,251	$63,235	$248,300
23	Lake County	375,059	$60,013	$223,000
24	Hillsborough County	1,444,359	$64,164	$251,200
25	Palm Beach County	1,481,233	$68,874	$316,600
26	Alachua County	276,171	$53,314	$210,800
27	Broward County	1,934,551	$64,522	$299,700
28	Duval County	983,153	$59,541	$211,200
29	Pasco County	551,598	$58,084	$193,000
30	Baker County	28,003	$63,860	$172,300
31	Leon County	290,965	$57,359	$223,400
32	Bay County	181,384	$60,473	$209,900
33	Orange County	1,409,949	$65,784	$276,900
34	St. Lucie County	324,599	$59,807	$231,000
35	Osceola County	380,331	$58,513	$238,700
36	Union County	16,141	$55,463	$122,000
37	Escambia County	318,828	$56,605	$171,900
38	Miami-Dade County	2,690,113	$57,815	$332,800
39	Polk County	713,148	$55,099	$177,900
40	Gilchrist County	17,759	$50,983	$137,900
41	Hernando County	192,128	$53,301	$173,700
42	Citrus County	151,888	$48,664	$158,800
43	Marion County	370,372	$50,808	$160,300
44	Jefferson County	14,405	$53,080	$153,400
45	Bradford County	27,928	$48,803	$127,400
46	Jackson County	48,067	$43,416	$104,800
47	Suwannee County	43,514	$47,218	$118,100
48	Highlands County	101,174	$46,895	$131,900
49	Columbia County	69,265	$47,750	$151,400
50	Levy County	42,392	$43,029	$130,200
51	Lafayette County	8,343	$56,458	$102,400
52	Taylor County	21,762	$43,563	$80,200
53	Madison County	18,051	$39,503	$89,000
54	Gadsden County	44,233	$42,661	$105,600
55	Dixie County	16,701	$44,287	$84,600
56	Okeechobee County	39,716	$47,020	$125,700
57	Calhoun County	13,863	$38,098	$103,100
58	Washington County	24,906	$41,806	$124,900
59	Holmes County	19,622	$41,809	$85,000
60	Franklin County	12,232	$52,679	$198,500
61	Liberty County	7,987	$42,438	$102,500
62	Putnam County	73,147	$39,975	$111,200
63	Hardee County	25,632	$41,395	$101,100
64	Hendry County	39,439	$38,843	$116,900
65	Desoto County	34,027	$39,945	$112,600
66	Hamilton County	13,973	$39,346	$87,000
67	Glades County	12,183	$38,088	$79,000