Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 7,020, settled in 1940.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Neptune Beach grades B overall, 120th of 634 graded towns in Florida. The median household earns $119K. Residents are healthier than 95% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. The trade-off is money: the typical home is worth about $791K, 9.9 years of the Jacksonville metro’s $80K median household income. 61% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Neptune Beach, where Florida’s towns sit at 31% and U.S. towns at 29%. On hazard risk, just 45 of Florida’s 779 towns do better.
Coastal flooding makes up 9% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Florida), ordered by how far Neptune Beach is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for jobs and income (better than 96% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 6%), so the B overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,363 in 1940, 7,217 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1940 and 6 maps from 1918 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Neptune Beach. Close and well known come first.
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaEverBank Field
8 mi National MemorialFort Caroline National Memorial369K visitors a year
29 mi National MonumentCastillo de San Marcos National Monument598K visitors a year
15 mi Stadium & arenaVyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
9 mi Park & preserveKingsley Plantation
15 mi MuseumUSS OrleckEverBank Field: AndrewAvitus, CC BY 3.0 · Fort Caroline National Memorial: NPS Photo, Public domain · Castillo de San Marcos National Monument: National Park Service, Public domain · VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena: Nichos (talk), Public domain · Kingsley Plantation: Original uploader was Emanuel Kingsley at en.wikipedia, Public domain · USS Orleck: U.S. Navy, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Neptune Beach, 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 Neptune Beach.
Neptune Beach fares better on crime within Florida than nationally and has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Florida.
At 9.9 years of the Jacksonville metro’s $80K median household income, the typical home (about $791K) costs more against local pay than in 95% of Florida towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living. Its typical home is the priciest on its borders; Atlantic Beach is next at $687K.
Neptune Beach’s median rent is $1,763 a month. Typical home values rose 7.6% in the year to September 2026.
| Neptune Beach | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,763 a month | $1,647 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 73% | 72% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Duval school district. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Duncan U. Fletcher High School, with 2,184 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neptune Beach Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 803 | A |
| Duncan U. Fletcher High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,184 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within FL on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Florida is food insecurity: 7.5% of its 5,978 adults worry about having enough food, against 16.8% statewide.
8.7% of adults have diabetes in Neptune Beach. Neptune Beach beats the Florida average on 20 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 30% of adults have high blood pressure in Neptune Beach.
| Neptune Beach | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 15% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 8.7% | 13% | 12% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 25% | 25% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 20% | 19% |
| What stands out | Neptune Beach | FL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.5% | 16.8% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 7.1% | 15.9% |
| More binge drinkers | 18.2% | 14.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
26.7% of workers work from home, against 15.7% across Florida.
3.1% of Neptune Beach residents live below the poverty line. Jobs based in Neptune Beach grew to 2,283 in 2023, 387 more than in 2013. The average trip to work in Neptune Beach is 22 minutes.
| Neptune Beach | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $119,000 | $73,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 3.1% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
2.7 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Neptune Beach | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.3% | 3% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Jarboe Park | 0.8 mi | 13 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
January nights average 46.5°, milder than in 97% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 89.8°. The Jacksonville Beach weather station records that about 36 days a year reach 90°: more than most of the country, but fewer than 99% of Florida places with climate records.
Neptune Beach has warm winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Neptune Beach | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 47°F | 51°F | 22°F |
| July high | 90°F | 91°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 16.1 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 72% of Florida’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 5 reported in 2025, 0.7 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 54% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 59 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Neptune Beach.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
4 within 15 miles of the center of Neptune Beach
About 7 of every 100 Neptune Beach residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Florida.
Where Neptune Beach’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
City in Florida, United States
Neptune Beach is a beachfront city east of Jacksonville in Duval County, Florida, United States. When the majority of Duval County communities consolidated with Jacksonville in 1968, Neptune Beach, along with Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach and Baldwin remained quasi-independent. Like those other municipalities, it maintains its own municipal government but its residents vote in the Jacksonville mayoral election and are represented on the Jacksonville city council. The population was 7,217 at the 2020 census. Neptune Beach is the smallest of the Jacksonville Beaches communities. it is part of the Jacksonville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Neptune Beach.
| Town | FL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neptune Beach | #120 | B | D | B | C+ | A |
| Atlantic Beach | #182 | B− | D− | B− | C+ | A− |
| Jacksonville Beach | #74 | B | D | — | C+ | A |
| Jacksonville | #437 | C− | C | — | C+ | C+ |
Jacksonville Beach and Jacksonville report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Neptune Beach with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Neptune Beach grades B overall, better than 56% of U.S. towns and #120 of 634 in Florida. It grades A for health, B for safety and C+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
2 notable people were born here, including Ben Gamel and Lajae Jones.
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