Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
2.2 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Florida town.
Lake Helen grades B− overall, ranked 180th of 634 in Florida, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. The median household earns $116K and crime is low: it reports less per resident than 76% of U.S. towns. On the other side, the typical home is worth about $324K, 4.5 years of the Deltona metro’s $71K median household income. Only 13 of Florida’s 327 towns score higher on civic life. Lake Helen’s median household income is $116,000, against $73,000 in Florida’s towns and $80,000 across U.S. towns. Only 42 of Florida’s 779 towns score higher on history.
Where Lake Helen beats most towns.
Ann Stevens HouseWhere Lake Helen’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Florida), ordered by how far Lake Helen is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 203 in 1900, a low of 203 in 1900, 2,842 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1895 and 3 maps from 1966 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lake Helen. Close and well known come first.
Big draw38 mi Theme parkUniversal Studios Florida9.5M visitors a year
Big draw40 mi Theme parkUniversal Epic Universe
Big draw32 mi Stadium & arenaCamping World Stadium
Big draw38 mi Theme parkUniversal's Islands of Adventure9.5M visitors a year
32 mi Stadium & arenaKia Center
26 mi Stadium & arenaAcrisure Bounce HouseUniversal Studios Florida: Radiobroadcastcenter, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Universal Epic Universe: Martin Lewison, CC BY 2.0 · Camping World Stadium: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0 · Universal's Islands of Adventure: David Bjorgen, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Kia Center: 350z33 (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Acrisure Bounce House: DampFrijoles, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lake Helen, 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 Lake Helen.
Lake Helen fares better on crime within Florida than nationally, has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns and has less no health insurance than most of Florida.
At 9.6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 90% of Florida’s graded towns.
The property crime rate in Lake Helen is 4.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Lake Helen | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.6 per 1,000 residents | 12.6 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.3 per 1,000 residents | 2.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Volusia school district. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ivy Hawn Charter School of the ArtsLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 947 | A− |
| Central Florida Academy PrivateLargest high schoolGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 190 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within FL on state tests and graduation
Most working residents leave Lake Helen for work: only 2% work in town. Since 2013, Lake Helen has added 242 jobs, to 504 in 2023. Lake Helen’s average trip to work is 30 minutes.
| Lake Helen | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 6.9% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.6% | 5% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 74% of U.S. communities. Since 2022, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Lake Helen.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The median household earns $116,250, against $74,568 across Florida, one input to its A− for jobs and income.
People 65 and older are 31% of residents (21% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 32% of residents (38% statewide). Lake Helen has grown 5.4% since 2020, to 2,994 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 28% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 34% across Florida.
| Lake Helen | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 42.8 years | 42.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 28% | 31% | 29% |
48% women, 52% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.4 points. Across Florida, 50.9% of residents are women. Among residents 25 to 34, 86% are men (FL 51%).
| Lake Helen | FL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.5% | 10.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 12.3% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.8% | 8.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 7.1% | 12.7% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 7.7% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 9.5% | 13.4% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 18.2% | 11.7% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 13.1% | 9.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.9% | 10.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 33.3% | 27.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.4% | 18.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.8% | 10.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 15.4% | 21.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 12.2% | 12.9% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,000, single groups can be off by several points
January nights average 48.1°, milder than in 98% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 91.8°. The Deland 1 Sse weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 310 days: longer than most of the country, but shorter than 75% of Florida places with climate records.
Lake Helen has warm winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Lake Helen | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 48°F | 51°F | 22°F |
| July high | 92°F | 91°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| Lake Helen | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1% | 3% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mitchell Brothers Park | 0.5 mi | 12 |
| 2. Blake Park | — | 8 |
| 3. Colby-Alderman Park | 0.1 mi | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The typical Lake Helen home is worth about $324,000, up 3.4% in a year, 14% below the Florida typical home. 79% of Lake Helen households own their home.
| Lake Helen | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 79% | 72% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,522 a month | $1,647 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its widest gap with Florida is no health insurance: 10.3% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 15.9% statewide. Against the 6,263 U.S. towns with household incomes like Lake Helen’s, it is less healthy than 84%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Lake Helen beats the Florida average on 8 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 4. 33% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Lake Helen.
| Lake Helen | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 37% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 37% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 23% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 14% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | Lake Helen | FL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 10.3% | 15.9% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9.4% | 13.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.5% | 9.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Lake Helen
About 3 of every 100 Lake Helen residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Florida.
2 places in Lake Helen on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in Florida, United States
Lake Helen is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,842 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Lake Helen.
| Town | FL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Helen | #180 | B− | C− | A− | B− | B− |
| DeLand | #383 | C | D | — | B− | B− |
DeLand reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Lake Helen with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Lake Helen grades B− overall, better than 47% of U.S. towns and #180 of 634 in Florida. It grades B− for health, A− for safety and B− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
