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Big city living isn't for everyone--but at the same time, urban areas certainly have their perks.
There's the culture, the food, the arts, the food, the energy, and you know, the food. But there are drawbacks. There's traffic, expensive parking, expensive housing--pretty much, expensive everything, depending on which big city you're looking at.
But that's where the suburbs come in--they have all of the benefits of being near big cities, without actually having to be big cities.
Of course, not all suburbs of Fort Lauderdale are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones. So without further ado...
Here are the 10 best suburbs to live around Fort Lauderdale for 2022:
What's the best suburb of Fort Lauderdale? Highland Beach ranks as the best suburb of Fort Lauderdale for 2022 based on the most recent Census and FBI data. If you happen to be a resident of Highland Beach, you're probably not too surprised to find it on the top our list.
We'll tell you what makes each of these 10 Fort Lauderdale 'burbs better than the rest--but first, a bit about our methodology.
Note: This result may differ from our state wide data as we did not include commute times and crime for this analysis to allow for a larger selection of suburbs.
Feel free to check out some more reading about Florida:
The 10 Best Fort Lauderdale Suburbs To Live For 2022
Highland Beach is always mentioned as one of the best suburbs in the Fort Lauderdale area. We'll tell you the good about "Awesome Highland Beach."
Everyone here is rich; families average $119,125 a year, which is the 4th highest in the Fort Lauderdale region. And only 4.41% are out of work. Homes average more than $625,700 each.
/10
Population: 3,907
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $119,125
Unemployment Rate: 4.4%
Poverty Rate: 4.7%
More on Highland Beach: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Parkland is the second best 'burb we looked at near Fort Lauderdale for 2022.
It ranks 1st for incomes in the area and only 6.71% of residents lack insurance, good for 5th best.
/10
Population: 32,878
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $159,692
Unemployment Rate: 3.9%
Poverty Rate: 3.6%
More on Parkland: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Here in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, it's really safe, and residents are just about as rich as you'll see in the Fort Lauderdale metro area.
The bad side? Schools are more crowded, and the cost of living puts a large part of the city out of reach for most families.
But price is based on demand and a lot of people want to live in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.
/10
Population: 6,703
Rank Last Year: 3 (No Change)
Median Income: $69,860
Unemployment Rate: 2.4%
Poverty Rate: 6.9%
More on Lauderdale-By-The-Sea: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Bay Harbor Islands ranks as the 4th best suburb of Fort Lauderdale for 2022.
You won't find many better places to raise your kids in the region than in Bay Harbor Islands and the schools are some of the best around.
/10
Population: 5,832
Rank Last Year: 13 (Up 9)
Median Income: $99,063
Unemployment Rate: 6.4%
Poverty Rate: 7.8%
More on Bay Harbor Islands: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Coming in as the fifth best is Lighthouse Point.
Lighthouse Point gets kudos for having the 9th most expensive homes in the Fort Lauderdale area, where houses sell for an average of $505,200. However, the cost of living here is among the highest in the area.
/10
Population: 11,238
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 1)
Median Income: $76,001
Unemployment Rate: 3.4%
Poverty Rate: 7.3%
More on Lighthouse Point: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Biscayne Park is proud of its 6th place finish on this list. And here's why.
Most residents have great jobs and the unemployment rate sits at 1.53% which is 2nd best in the area.
According to online reports, Biscayne Park is quickly becoming one of the more affluent suburbs in the Fort Lauderdale area, meaning you need to get in soon.
/10
Population: 3,089
Rank Last Year: 27 (Up 21)
Median Income: $76,467
Unemployment Rate: 1.5%
Poverty Rate: 4.7%
More on Biscayne Park: Real Estate | Data
The 7th best suburb on our list goes to Miami Shores.
Miami Shores schools are some of the best in the region, and crime is really low. The cost of living makes it a lot more desirable for many families, especially first-time home buyers.
And, it's only 19.0 miles to downtown, which is a good thing.
/10
Population: 10,372
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 3)
Median Income: $125,202
Unemployment Rate: 5.5%
Poverty Rate: 5.3%
More on Miami Shores: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Aventura is growing quickly, and for a good reason. Crime is far below average, and most residents are gainfully employed. Even the cost of living is reasonable.
A solid 6.46% of people lack insurance, good for 3rd in the area.
/10
Population: 37,151
Rank Last Year: 7 (Down 1)
Median Income: $65,893
Unemployment Rate: 4.9%
Poverty Rate: 9.8%
More on Aventura: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Is 'Everything Better In Southwest Ranches?'
Almost.
It placed 9th on our list thanks to the fact that it's really expensive to live here, but the schools are great, so you get what you pay for in that regard.
/10
Population: 7,947
Rank Last Year: 14 (Up 5)
Median Income: $133,750
Unemployment Rate: 4.4%
Poverty Rate: 4.4%
More on Southwest Ranches: Real Estate | Data
And rounding out the top ten for 2022 is Weston.
This city is far above average in every category, and the best part? It's far more affordable than the other cities listed above. So, you get a big bang for your buck here.
/10
Population: 70,965
Rank Last Year: 8 (Down 2)
Median Income: $113,032
Unemployment Rate: 5.0%
Poverty Rate: 5.6%
More on Weston: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Methodology: How We Determined The Best Suburbs Around Fort Lauderdale for 2022
Figuring out the best suburbs around Fort Lauderdale was pretty simple; we just needed to list several things that people like, and then find out which cities have the most of those things.
We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible:
- Low unemployment rate
- High Median household incomes
- Population density (lots of things to do)
- High home values
- A lot of college educated people
- Low poverty
- High rate of insured families
Then we used the newest American Community Survey data for 2016-2020 to research each suburb.
FYI: We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of Fort Lauderdale.
Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 52 suburbs to evaluate around Fort Lauderdale.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 52 in each category, where 1 was the "best.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality of life index.
And finally, we crowned the city with the best quality of life index the "Best Suburb near Fort Lauderdale." We're lookin' at you, Highland Beach. You can download the data here.
Read on below to learn more about what it's like to live in the best of the best. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from best to worst.
Summary: Welcome to the Best Fort Lauderdale 'Burbs of 2022
We said it once and we'll say it again--life in the big city isn't for everyone. At least not all the time.
So if you're hankering for some of the amenities of a larger city like Fort Lauderdale, but don't want to deal with the drawbacks, one of these suburbs might just be for you.
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