Editor’s Note: This is not investment advice, and we are not financial advisers.
Suppose real estate is the most significant investment a majority of people make in their lifetime. In that case, it’s best to understand the places in Florida with best potential return on investment.
After working in real estate adjacent roles for over a decade, I had the hypothesis that the best place to buy for a return on investment would be up-and-coming cities. Smaller cities where crime might be high now, but people still move to.
To test my hypothesis, we are going to look at places in Florida that are growing faster than average, but where home prices are below average, and crime rates are higher than average.
In everyday terms, these might be “deals”. The best deal in Florida at the moment according to Saturday Night Science? That would be Freeport.
7.8% population growth · -0.9% home price growth
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
1.0% population growth · -0.7% home price growth
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
4.6% population growth · -1.5% home price growth
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
4.2% population growth · 0.1% home price growth
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
2.3% population growth · 0.1% home price growth
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-0.1% population growth · -0.5% home price growth
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-0.3% population growth · -0.1% home price growth
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
2.8% population growth · 32.3% home price growth
1.0% population growth · 5.2% home price growth
Located in
Bradford County, FloridaData | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
13.5% population growth · -1.7% home price growth
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Florida’s statewide median.
Florida statewide median: $375,662
On the map
Where Florida’s best buys are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How do you determine the best places to buy a home in Florida for 2026?
We were in real estate for almost five years and have worked on this site for over a decade. Suffice it to say we’ve put a lot of thought into finding an excellent place to buy a home.
So all that thinking has come to this moment where we get to spell out how we’d approach finding an up-and-coming place to live in Florida. Put differently, the analysis will try to find places in Florida with undervalued homes relative to pent-up demand using Saturday Night Science.
To do that, we looked at the most recent American Community Survey Census data for 2020-2024 and compared it to the previous vintage. Specifically, we used the following criteria:
- Y-o-Y Change In Population (People want to live here)
- Y-o-Y Change In Median Home Prices (People are willing to pay for it)
- Home Prices Relative To The State Average (It’s still kinda cheap)
We want places that are growing, have seen home prices increase in recent years, and are still “cheap” for Florida, with these caveats: home prices had to be within 20% of the state average, home prices increased in the last year, and the city had above 5,000 people.
So of the 915 cities and towns in Florida, only 222 places made it through our initial filters to even be considered.
We then ranked each place from 1 to 222 for the above criteria, with 1 being the best. We averaged the rankings to create a “best place to buy” index, with the place having the lowest index being the best.
Turns out that Freeport is the best potential gem in the not-so-rough in the Sunshine State.
The full plate
Best Places To Buy A Home In Florida
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Median Home Price | Population Change | Home Price Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Freeport | 6,689 | $390,449 | 7.8% | -0.9% |
| 2 | Daytona Beach Shores | 5,188 | $365,983 | 1.0% | -0.7% |
| 3 | Dundee | 5,863 | $268,079 | 4.6% | -1.5% |
| 4 | Belleview | 5,805 | $257,988 | 4.2% | 0.1% |
| 5 | Flagler Beach | 5,373 | $452,138 | 2.3% | 0.1% |
| 6 | South Pasadena | 5,320 | $304,627 | -0.1% | -0.5% |
| 7 | Kenneth City | 5,012 | $295,621 | -0.3% | -0.1% |
| 8 | LaBelle | 5,184 | $213,886 | 2.8% | 32.3% |
| 9 | Starke | 5,877 | $230,235 | 1.0% | 5.2% |
| 10 | Davenport | 13,238 | $341,898 | 13.5% | -1.7% |
| 11 | Okeechobee | 5,479 | $287,583 | 1.9% | 0.1% |
| 12 | Surfside | 5,631 | $1,276,757 | 1.2% | 2.6% |
| 13 | Bay Harbor Islands | 5,847 | $660,038 | 0.9% | 3.3% |
| 14 | High Springs | 6,544 | $330,417 | 2.3% | 2.3% |
| 15 | Lake Alfred | 7,277 | $307,548 | 7.0% | -0.5% |
| 16 | Mascotte | 7,949 | $319,223 | 7.3% | -1.2% |
| 17 | Newberry | 7,865 | $330,551 | 3.4% | -0.6% |
| 18 | Tequesta | 6,193 | $636,088 | 1.2% | 2.9% |
| 19 | Fort Meade | 5,225 | $230,317 | 1.0% | 1.7% |
| 20 | Pahokee | 5,609 | $204,196 | 1.3% | 4.1% |
| 21 | Marianna | 7,150 | $193,116 | 4.9% | 1.9% |
| 22 | South Bay | 5,102 | $233,447 | 5.7% | 6.0% |
| 23 | DeFuniak Springs | 6,532 | $210,747 | 3.9% | 11.3% |
| 24 | Lauderdale-by-the-Sea | 6,232 | $712,501 | 1.2% | -1.9% |
| 25 | Pembroke Park | 6,360 | $246,080 | 1.7% | -2.4% |
| 26 | Gulf Breeze | 6,660 | $468,224 | 2.2% | -0.4% |
| 27 | Macclenny | 7,748 | $304,597 | 2.5% | 0.3% |
| 28 | Perry | 7,068 | $178,828 | 1.5% | 4.1% |
| 29 | Treasure Island | 6,553 | $523,698 | -0.2% | -1.2% |
| 30 | Live Oak | 6,985 | $260,160 | 1.2% | 2.8% |
| 31 | St. Augustine Beach | 6,860 | $584,851 | 0.6% | 0.6% |
| 32 | Fort Myers Beach | 5,513 | $494,794 | -0.6% | -0.4% |
| 33 | Belle Isle | 7,444 | $533,137 | 5.5% | 1.1% |
| 34 | Neptune Beach | 7,168 | $772,433 | -0.4% | 3.5% |
| 35 | Quincy | 7,942 | $174,455 | 1.6% | 0.9% |
| 36 | Dade City | 8,152 | $320,848 | 7.7% | -0.3% |
| 37 | Longboat Key | 7,539 | $964,716 | 0.4% | 0.4% |
| 38 | Wildwood | 17,608 | $293,834 | 5.2% | -4.3% |
| 39 | Sanibel | 6,418 | $808,687 | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| 40 | Inverness | 7,770 | $239,816 | 1.3% | 0.0% |
| 41 | Clewiston | 7,348 | $253,570 | 1.3% | 1.6% |
| 42 | Southwest Ranches | 7,656 | $1,437,706 | 1.1% | 1.2% |
| 43 | North Bay Village | 8,118 | $388,328 | 1.4% | 0.0% |
| 44 | West Miami | 7,162 | $662,496 | 1.2% | 0.4% |
| 45 | Arcadia | 7,707 | $243,509 | 1.8% | 0.8% |
| 46 | Green Cove Springs | 10,044 | $336,932 | 1.1% | -1.3% |
| 47 | Brooksville | 9,457 | $310,230 | 2.4% | -0.5% |
| 48 | Indian Harbour Beach | 9,025 | $457,548 | 0.4% | 0.4% |
| 49 | Lake Park | 9,081 | $403,255 | 0.8% | 4.0% |
| 50 | Marathon | 9,914 | $825,707 | 0.8% | 0.5% |
| 51 | Orange Park | 9,055 | $309,406 | -0.1% | -0.5% |
| 52 | Palm Beach | 9,348 | $2,070,045 | 1.2% | 2.1% |
| 53 | Springfield | 8,230 | $211,774 | 0.9% | 1.1% |
| 54 | Fruitland Park | 8,740 | $293,327 | 3.0% | -0.3% |
| 55 | St. Pete Beach | 8,805 | $600,935 | -0.3% | -1.9% |
| 56 | Alachua | 10,743 | $331,489 | 1.0% | 0.0% |
| 57 | Milton | 10,733 | $284,184 | 2.4% | 1.5% |
| 58 | Miami Shores | 11,752 | $735,780 | 1.1% | 2.0% |
| 59 | Palatka | 10,650 | $206,963 | 0.9% | 0.5% |
| 60 | Cape Canaveral | 10,006 | $315,155 | 0.3% | -1.5% |
| 61 | Sebring | 11,382 | $238,872 | 1.8% | -0.2% |
| 62 | Avon Park | 10,057 | $208,535 | 1.8% | -0.1% |
| 63 | Satellite Beach | 11,313 | $516,286 | 0.6% | 1.6% |
| 64 | Lighthouse Point | 10,600 | $762,810 | 1.3% | 0.9% |
| 65 | Cocoa Beach | 11,377 | $456,921 | 0.3% | -1.1% |
| 66 | Florida City | 12,943 | $372,464 | 1.2% | -0.0% |
| 67 | Lantana | 12,256 | $414,588 | 3.5% | -4.7% |
| 68 | South Miami | 12,277 | $867,893 | 2.9% | 1.5% |
| 69 | Lake City | 12,515 | $262,276 | 0.9% | 0.4% |
| 70 | Minneola | 16,598 | $440,330 | 8.0% | -1.9% |
| 71 | Orange City | 14,372 | $290,440 | 4.4% | -0.1% |
| 72 | Holly Hill | 13,084 | $197,817 | 0.6% | -2.5% |
| 73 | Gulfport | 11,734 | $349,949 | -0.0% | -1.7% |
| 74 | Wilton Manors | 11,511 | $576,125 | 0.9% | 0.4% |
| 75 | Fernandina Beach | 13,420 | $600,245 | 1.4% | -1.1% |
| 76 | Panama City Beach | 18,971 | $412,496 | 2.6% | -0.8% |
| 77 | Key Biscayne | 14,791 | $1,658,764 | 1.6% | 3.8% |
| 78 | North Palm Beach | 13,238 | $622,594 | 1.1% | 2.9% |
| 79 | South Daytona | 13,543 | $244,952 | 1.7% | 2.3% |
| 80 | Palmetto | 13,588 | $350,685 | 1.0% | -0.3% |
| 81 | Atlantic Beach | 13,363 | $704,117 | 0.1% | 1.3% |
| 82 | Miami Springs | 13,726 | $729,504 | 0.9% | 1.8% |
| 83 | Mount Dora | 17,278 | $391,997 | 2.8% | 0.3% |
| 84 | Destin | 14,077 | $613,519 | 0.4% | 4.4% |
| 85 | Callaway | 13,496 | $260,914 | 1.5% | -0.9% |
| 86 | Oldsmar | 14,904 | $365,724 | 0.2% | -1.2% |
| 87 | West Park | 15,249 | $422,622 | 1.1% | 0.1% |
| 88 | St. Augustine | 15,351 | $431,116 | 2.5% | -0.6% |
| 89 | Groveland | 22,012 | $371,292 | 6.7% | -1.6% |
| 90 | Longwood | 16,337 | $455,599 | 2.4% | 1.2% |
| 91 | Niceville | 16,544 | $437,726 | 3.1% | 2.3% |
| 92 | Lady Lake | 16,675 | $336,327 | 2.1% | -1.8% |
| 93 | Opa-locka | 16,282 | $468,451 | 1.1% | 0.4% |
| 94 | Zephyrhills | 19,668 | $304,732 | 6.5% | 0.6% |
| 95 | Auburndale | 18,530 | $303,498 | 6.3% | -1.6% |
| 96 | Stuart | 18,520 | $378,041 | 2.6% | 1.5% |
| 97 | Lake Wales | 16,785 | $246,149 | 2.6% | 0.5% |
| 98 | New Port Richey | 17,425 | $289,102 | 2.2% | -0.2% |
| 99 | Lake Mary | 16,860 | $466,032 | 0.8% | 0.8% |
| 100 | Vero Beach | 17,042 | $362,131 | 1.5% | 0.8% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024 via Saturday Night Science. 222 Florida cities cleared the filters.
Summary
Summary: The Best Places To Purchase A House In Florida for 2026
There’s our analysis of the best places to buy a house in Florida. And, to be clear, we aren’t necessarily saying these places are the best places to live, just that it looks like they might be in a couple of years based on the data.
In fact, every place in the following table meets our criteria, so even though it may not look super long, remember we started off with all 915 places in the state.
The best cities to buy a house in Florida are Freeport, Daytona Beach Shores, Dundee, Belleview, Flagler Beach, South Pasadena, Kenneth City, LaBelle, Starke, and Davenport.
So if we could rent or buy in these cities, we’d definitely buy.
