Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
DeFuniak Springs gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $229K, 2.8 years of the Crestview metro’s $82K median household income. It grades C overall, 405th of 634 graded towns in Florida. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $55K, and 20% of residents live below the poverty line, and FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 82% of U.S. communities, with hurricanes at the top. On the plus side, its schools rank ahead of 92% of Florida towns. 20% of residents live below the poverty line in DeFuniak Springs, against 11% in Florida’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. Only 35 of Florida’s 779 towns score higher on history. DeFuniak Springs's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 90% of U.S. towns.
Where DeFuniak Springs beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| West Defuniak Elementary School | K–5 | 704 |
| Maude Saunders Elementary School | K–5 | 554 |
| First Christian Academy | K–5 | 64 |
5,177 counted in 2010 and 5,919 in 2020; an estimated 7,338 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 24.1% since 2020, after 14.3% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Florida), ordered by how far DeFuniak Springs is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 672 in 1890, 5,919 in 2020. The archive holds 8 old photos and papers going back to 1887 and 3 maps from 1935 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in DeFuniak Springs, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 17, 2025.
Ordered by what stands out in DeFuniak Springs.
DeFuniak Springs pairs an A for schools with modest home prices, trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and draws workers from Freeport and beyond.
5,613 jobs are based in DeFuniak Springs, 2.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
About one in 5 of DeFuniak Springs’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in DeFuniak Springs grew to 5,613 in 2023, 524 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Miramar Beach (5%), Destin (3%) and Panama City (3%).
| DeFuniak Springs | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 21% | 5% | 8% |
| Median household income | $55,000 | $73,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its A for schools comes with a B+ for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $229K. Its A ranks #12 of the 638 Florida towns we grade for schools.
Its public schools are run by the Walton school district. Three of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Walton High School, with 969 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walton Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 796 | B |
| Walton High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 969 | B |
| West Defuniak Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 704 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within FL on state tests and graduation
Homes are within reach (about $229K for the typical one, B+ for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 28 miles. At 2.8 years of the Crestview metro’s $82K median household income, the typical home (about $229K) costs less against local pay than in 91% of Florida towns; that ratio is one input to its B+ for cost of living.
The median rent in DeFuniak Springs is $1,024 a month. The typical DeFuniak Springs home is worth about $229,000, about the same as a year ago, 39% below the Florida typical home. 63% of DeFuniak Springs households own their home.
| DeFuniak Springs | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,024 a month | $1,647 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 63% | 72% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 7,271 U.S. towns with household incomes like DeFuniak Springs’s, it is less healthy than 56%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
DeFuniak Springs beats the Florida average on 0 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 15. 17% of adults smoke cigarettes in DeFuniak Springs.
| DeFuniak Springs | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 16% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 20% | 19% |
| What stands out | DeFuniak Springs | FL |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 10.1% | 7.2% |
| More smokers | 17.3% | 12.4% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 17.3% | 12.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Reported crimes fell from 161 to 106 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
DeFuniak Springs’ violent crime rate is 2.6 per 1,000 residents.
| DeFuniak Springs | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.6 per 1,000 residents | 2.1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 11.8 per 1,000 residents | 12.6 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The De Funiak Springs 1 E weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 275 days: longer than most of the country, but shorter than 88% of Florida places with climate records. January nights average 39.4°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 98% of Florida places with climate records; July afternoons average 91.4°.
DeFuniak Springs has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Among 638 Florida towns, just 2 have a lower January low than DeFuniak Springs. Snow is almost unheard of.
| DeFuniak Springs | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 39°F | 51°F | 22°F |
| July high | 91°F | 91°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
3.0 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Chipley Park, 82 acres with 1.4 miles of trail.
| DeFuniak Springs | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1% | 3% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Chipley Park | 1.4 mi | 82 |
| 2. Gene Hurley Park | — | 57 |
| 3. Wee Care Park | — | 28 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of DeFuniak Springs; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 DeFuniak Springs residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Florida.
Where DeFuniak Springs’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
5 places in DeFuniak Springs on the National Register of Historic Places.
11 notable people were born in DeFuniak Springs.
City in Florida, United States
DeFuniak Springs ( də-FEW-nee-ak) is a city in and the county seat of Walton County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,919 as of the 2020 Census, up from 5,177 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Crestview–Fort Walton Beach–Destin metropolitan area. DeFuniak Springs is home to Lake DeFuniak, one of two spring-fed lakes in the world that is nearly perfectly round.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
DeFuniak Springs grades C overall, better than 26% of U.S. towns and #405 of 634 in Florida. It grades C− for health, C− for safety and A for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D−.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
11 notable people were born here, including Buck Showalter and Kay Stephenson.
