Tallahassee, the state capital · Photo: Urbantallahassee · CC BY-SA 4.0How Florida stacks up
In Florida, the trade-off is clear: a growing population and widespread home ownership on one side, 28.0-minute commutes and poor health (20% of adults in fair or poor health) on the other. Across all eight subjects, Florida lands 43rd (C−). When nature does damage in Florida, it is mostly hurricanes: 54% of FEMA’s expected building losses.
Each subject puts the official state figure beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
21st of 51B60/100 Somewhat below-average crime. The town measure covers 37% of residents; many places have no police force of their own. Florida reports 248 violent crimes per 100,000 people, against 329 nationally. It leads its neighbors on safety, ahead of Georgia.
With property crime counted (property + 4 × violent), it places 9th lowest.
Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer, state estimate 2025.
Measure: reported crime per resident over the engine’s three crime years (property + 4 × violent), as in our Safety grades. 94 Florida towns of 10,000+ against 3,410 nationally. Covers 37% of residents of Florida’s 10,000+ towns.
A mixed picture, town by town
Property crime, not violence, explains Aventura and Miami Shores: both report less violent crime than the typical U.S. town. Niceville leads its towns at #30 of 3,410 nationally, with Marco Island and Davenport close behind. Miami, St. Petersburg and Tallahassee sit at the high-crime end of the national ranking.
| State | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | 42% | 0% | |
| Rhode Island | 37% | 0% | |
| New Jersey | 35% | 20% | |
| Pennsylvania | 29% | 37% | |
| Maine | 29% | 15% | |
| Florida | 9% | 34% |
Read the town figures with care
Our town measure uses the crime each local police department reports to the FBI; towns without enough of the last three years are left out. In Florida, 37% of residents of 10,000+ towns are covered. Port St. Lucie, Pembroke Pines, Davie and 17 more are missing too many years to count. In Jacksonville, Orlando, Cape Coral and 235 other places, county or state police answer the calls, so there is no town figure. Next door, coverage runs from 69% in Georgia to 95% in Alabama.
Schools
35th of 51C32/100 Test scores slightly under the national middle. For $13,006 a pupil, 45th among the states, it gets 28th-place results. On the Nation’s Report Card it ranks 24th lowest, with 31% of students at Proficient or better. Only 1% of residents live in a town in the national top quarter, led by World Golf Village.
On-time graduation, 88.0% (17th highest), weighs equally with test results in the grade.
It spends $13,006 per pupil, 7th lowest (context only; spending isn’t graded).
Source: NCES, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2024, public schools; EDFacts graduation rates; Census school finance.
Measure: graduation rate and test results, averaged; each district’s state-test proficiency is put on the NAEP yardstick (its result ÷ the state average × the state’s NAEP proficiency) so districts compare across states. 352 Florida towns of 10,000+ against 5,230 nationally.
Cost of living
34th of 51C34/100 A bit expensive. Property-tax bills run $2,730 a year, the 26th lowest of the 50 states and D.C. Its larger places pull the town measure down: Miami and Tampa sit in the national bottom quarter. Georgia and Alabama all do better on affordability.
Against income, home values rank 14th highest: 4.8 times the median household’s.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: our cost-of-living score: home value, rent and tax bill against area income, plus the share paying 30%+ for housing. 352 Florida towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Health
39th of 51C−24/100 Less healthy than most states. 20% of adults describe their health as fair or poor, against 19% nationally. Parkland leads its towns at #254 nationally; 9% of residents live in top-quarter towns.
Source: CDC PLACES 2025 release (BRFSS model estimates).
Measure: our health score: seven CDC PLACES measures (general, physical and mental health, obesity, diabetes, smoking, inactivity). 351 Florida towns of 10,000+ against 5,218 nationally.
Housing
15th of 51B+72/100 More homeowners than most states. Compared with 65% nationally, 68% of homes here are owner-occupied. Town by town it lands near the middle, with Jupiter Farms its best at #12 of 5,235.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: share of occupied homes that are owner-occupied. 352 Florida towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Natural hazards
50th of 51D−2/100 Nature is the big risk here. Top-quarter towns are rare here; Fairview Shores comes closest at #1,861. Natural hazards are expected to cost $197 a year per $100,000 of buildings, the 7th highest rate in the country. Georgia and Alabama all do better on hazard risk.
The federal government declared 14 major disasters here between 2015 and 2025 (19th most).
What drives it: hurricane 54%, inland flooding 37%, tornado 3% of expected building damage.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (Dec. 2025): expected annual building loss over building value, all census tracts; FEMA disaster declarations.
Measure: FEMA National Risk Index: expected yearly building loss from 18 natural hazards, as a share of building value. 352 Florida towns of 10,000+ against 5,239 nationally.
Commute
46th of 51D10/100 Longer commutes than most states. Georgia and Alabama all do better on commute times. Getting to work takes 28.0 minutes on average (8th longest). Port St. Lucie is the exception, with commutes in the slowest quarter of U.S. towns.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: average one-way commute of the town’s workers. 352 Florida towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Growth
10th of 51A−82/100 Growing faster than most. Its standout is Nocatee, #6 in the country for growth. Florida grew 14.6% between 2010 and 2020, against 7.4% for the country. It leads its neighbors on growth, ahead of Georgia.
New homes permitted in 2025: 8.3 per 1,000 residents (5th most).
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 and 2020 decennial counts; Census building permits.
Measure: population change between the 2010 and 2020 censuses. 344 Florida towns of 10,000+ against 5,079 nationally.
How Florida compares to its neighbors
Against Georgia and Alabama, Florida leads on safety and growth but trails on schools, cost of living and natural hazards.
| Florida | Georgia | Alabama | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | C− 1643rd of 51 | C+ 3832nd of 51 | B+ 7215th of 51 |
| Safety | B 6020th official · 9% in top towns | B 5627th official · 9% in top towns | C+ 4033rd official · 5% in top towns |
| Schools | C 3228th official · 1% in top towns | C+ 3831st official · 6% in top towns | B+ 7245th official · 18% in top towns |
| Cost of living | C 3426th official · 4% in top towns | B− 5220th official · 11% in top towns | A+ 981st official · 70% in top towns |
| Health | C− 2436th official · 9% in top towns | C+ 4036th official · 17% in top towns | C− 2046th official · 13% in top towns |
| Housing | B+ 7223rd official · 18% in top towns | C− 1839th official · 5% in top towns | A− 7613th official · 10% in top towns |
| Natural hazards | D− 245th official · 0% in top towns | A− 7615th official · 41% in top towns | C− 1840th official · 1% in top towns |
| Commute | D 1044th official · 5% in top towns | C− 2245th official · 20% in top towns | B 5828th official · 52% in top towns |
| Growth | A− 829th official · 51% in top towns | B+ 7413th official · 47% in top towns | B 5828th official · 36% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the state’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of residents of 10,000+ towns living in a nationally top-quarter town. Neighbor names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is the figure a state agency or federal survey publishes for the whole state, ranked against the other 49 states and D.C. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the state’s towns and cities of 10,000+, the share whose town falls in the national top quarter of 10,000+ towns. A state can do well on one and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the state’s standing among the 50 states and D.C.: the two measures’ percentiles averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. 100 is the best state, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, commute 10, housing 8, natural hazards 8, growth 8 (out of 100). D.C., a single city, is left out of the town measure and graded on official figures alone.
What it is not. A state figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a state is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out towns under 10,000 and towns missing data. Neither says anything about any one neighborhood.
Schools use the Nation’s Report Card because each state’s own tests are set to different bars. Hazards use FEMA’s expected building damage, the same loss rate behind our town hazard grades. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work