Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,599, settled in 1912.
Lake Placid earns a D−, 627th among Florida's 634 graded towns, mostly because of incomes and health. The median household income is $47K, and 24% of residents live below the poverty line. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 92% of the country. One bright spot: it is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns. 24% of residents live below the poverty line in Lake Placid, above both Florida’s towns (11%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Lake Placid has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Highway Park Cemetery.
Where Lake Placid beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where Lake Placid’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 Placid is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 582 in 1930, a low of 340 in 1940, 2,360 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1940 and 2 maps from 1952 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lake Placid, 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 Placid.
Lake Placid draws workers from Sebring and beyond, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns.
6.9 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. The trail density in Lake Placid is 1.5 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Lake June Park, at 39 acres.
| Lake Placid | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.5 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.4% | 3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Devane Park | 0.5 mi | 4 |
| 2. Lake June Park | 0.2 mi | 39 |
| 3. H. L. Bishop Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Highlands school district. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Lake Placid High School, with 829 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Placid Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 569 | C− |
| Lake Placid High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 829 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within FL on state tests and graduation
1,748 jobs are based in Lake Placid, 2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Lake Placid for work: only 15% work in town. Since 2013, Lake Placid has added 94 jobs, to 1,748 in 2023. The top destinations are Sebring (7%), Port St.
| Lake Placid | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $47,000 | $73,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 15% | 5% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 4,672 U.S. towns with household incomes like Lake Placid’s, it is less healthy than 75%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
32% of Lake Placid adults say their health is fair or poor. Lake Placid beats the Florida average on 0 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 22. 19% of Lake Placid adults have diabetes.
| Lake Placid | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 20% | 19% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 13% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 25% | 25% |
| What stands out | Lake Placid | FL |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 30% | 12.7% |
| More uninsured adults | 26.2% | 15.9% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 27% | 16.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical Lake Placid home is worth about $237,000, down 1.4% in a year, 37% below the Florida typical home. Lake Placid’s median rent is $1,046 a month.
| Lake Placid | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 57% | 72% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,046 a month | $1,647 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
January nights average 49.8°, milder than in 99% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 92.2°.
Lake Placid has warm winters and hot summers, with plenty of rain. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Lake Placid | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 50°F | 51°F | 22°F |
| July high | 92°F | 91°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 63% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Lake Placid since 2024.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
None within 15 miles of Lake Placid; the nearest are
About 7 of every 100 Lake Placid residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Florida.
1.4% of the town is conserved land, across 4 parks and preserves.
Town in the state of Florida, United States
Lake Placid is a town in Highlands County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Sebring, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,360, up from 2,223 at the 2010 census. The town has two mottoes: "Town of Murals" and "Caladium Capital of the World". Lake Placid has 47 murals painted on buildings throughout the town, and 98 percent of the world's caladium bulbs come from Lake Placid. There are 14 caladium farms, spanning 1,200 acres, and these plants have been grown in the area since the 1940s. In 2013, Reader's Digest named Lake Placid America's Most Interesting Town. The town is home to the Lake Placid Tower, a closed concrete block observation…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Lake Placid grades D− overall, in the bottom 2% of U.S. towns and #627 of 634 in Florida. It grades D for health and C− for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. That is 4.3 years of the area's median household income ($54,897 across the Sebring, FL metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.