Photo: JonathanPuello · CC BY-SA 4.0Even on the area’s higher pay, Stuart costs more to live in than 85% of U.S. towns
It ranks #350 of 637 in Florida for affordability. About the same as a year ago, close to the Florida typical home.
Census 2020–24 home values, rents, tax bills and cost burden, measured against the median household income of the Port St. Lucie, FL metro area ($75K). How TownRatings grades cost of living
The grade measures what housing costs against what households in the area earn. Stuart’s area earns well above the typical U.S. town ($75K against $74K), but homes, rent and taxes here run higher still. Owners keep up better than renters: 29% of owners pay 30% or more of income for housing (typical U.S. town: 20%), against 69% of renters.
In dollars
- $374Ktypical home, 0% below the Florida typical homeZillow, September 2026
- $1,760a month for a two-bedroom, utilities includedHUD Fair Market Rent, 2026
- 100prices across the Port St. Lucie metro, where the U.S. is 100 (housing 114)BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024
In paychecks the grade
- 4.4 yrsof area income buys the typical home; the typical U.S. town: 3.3$75K, Port St. Lucie-area income
- 26%of area income goes to the median rent; the typical U.S. town: 18%Census 2020–24
- 69%of renters pay 30%+ of income for housing; across Florida: 60%Census 2020–24
- 29%of owners do; the typical U.S. town: 20%Census 2020–24
What Stuart’s housing numbers say
Prices are 9% below their 2023 peak
The typical Stuart home peaked at $410K in December 2023 and is worth about $374K now. Florida as a whole is 7% off its own peak. Over five years, Stuart is still up 19%. Price trend ↓
A burst of building in 2022
Stuart permitted 805 new homes in 2022, 88% of them in buildings with two or more homes, against about 95 in a typical year of the past decade. 2025 came in at 9. New homes ↓
Most new homes are apartments and condos
Of the 1,660 homes permitted in Stuart’s past 10 years, 88% were in buildings with two or more homes, not single-family houses. New homes ↓
Written from the data on this page. Home values are the Zillow Home Value Index, through September 2026; sales and supply are Redfin’s for September 2026; permits are Census figures through 2025; incomes, rents paid, taxes and ownership come from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Stuart’s grade
Measured against what households in the area earn, Stuart is more affordable than 15% of U.S. towns, #350 of 637 in Florida. The share of households paying 30%+ for housing pulls the grade down most; property tax holds it up.
Prices here have kept pace with Florida: up 18.6% in five years, against 18.6% statewide (Zillow).
Up 18.6% in five years
About the same pace as Florida (18.6%).
Show as a table
| January | Stuart | Florida |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | $212,000 | $209,000 |
| 2018 | $228,000 | $226,000 |
| 2019 | $244,000 | $241,000 |
| 2020 | $255,000 | $252,000 |
| 2021 | $276,000 | $276,000 |
| 2022 | $335,000 | $339,000 |
| 2023 | $398,000 | $392,000 |
| 2024 | $409,000 | $402,000 |
| 2025 | $397,000 | $396,000 |
| 2026 | $372,000 | $377,000 |
| September 2026 | $374,000 | $375,000 |
A typical Stuart home worth $208K in October 2016 is worth about $374K today.
Zillow Home Value Index: the typical value of all homes (middle third), smoothed and seasonally adjusted, through September 2026.
A buyer's market
More homes are for sale than are selling — about 7 months of supply. Buyers have room to negotiate.
Under ~4 months of supply favors sellers; over ~6 favors buyers.
Redfin Data Center, all residential sales, September 2026.
A year’s rent takes 26% of area income
The calculator starts from the area income the grade uses. Switch to Stuart’s own median, or type yours.
That’s $71K short of a typical Stuart home.
A two-bedroom rents for about $1,760 a month here, $400 less than owning.
An estimate, not a loan offer: payments of up to 28% of income, a 30-year fixed loan, Stuart’s typical property tax (0.63% of value a year, from the Census) and insurance of about 0.35%. Mortgage insurance, HOA fees and other debts aren’t included.
A two-bedroom rents for about $1,760
Renters already here pay a median of $1,586, so moving in tends to cost more than staying put.
Fair Market Rent a month, utilities included
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Market Rents by ZIP code (Port St. Lucie, FL MSA): the 40th-percentile rent plus utilities for a standard unit. Median rent and renters: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
9 new homes permitted in 2025
Builders were permitted 9 new homes in Stuart in 2025, all single-family houses, worth about $6.4 million to build. That's 0.5 per 1,000 residents, slower than across Florida (8.3). Over the past 10 years, Stuart has permitted 1,660 homes in all.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, Stuart gained 1,832 residents while 496 new homes were permitted: about 3.7 new residents per new home. Population grew faster than building, so existing homes filled up: a sign of tight supply. Across Florida: 2.8 new residents per new home.
Every year as a table
| Year | New homes | Single-family | 2+ per building | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–Aug) | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2025 | 9 | 9 | 0 | $6.4 million |
| 2024 | 4 | 4 | 0 | $1.4 million |
| 2023 | 55 | 12 | 43 | $9.7 million |
| 2022 | 805 | 93 | 712 | $98.3 million |
| 2021 | 346 | 8 | 338 | $28.4 million |
| 2020 | 60 | 10 | 50 | $19.8 million |
| 2019 | 301 | 9 | 292 | $17 million |
| 2018 | 41 | 22 | 19 | $19.4 million |
| 2017 | 16 | 16 | 0 | $5.1 million |
| 2016 | 23 | 23 | 0 | $3.2 million |
| 2015 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2014 | 20 | 20 | 0 | $8.1 million |
| 2013 | 46 | 35 | 11 | $16.1 million |
| 2012 | 20 | 20 | 0 | $9.5 million |
| 2011 | 13 | 13 | 0 | $3.7 million |
| 2010 | 16 | 16 | 0 | $5.3 million |
| 2009 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2008 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $752,000 |
| 2007 | 13 | 13 | 0 | $2.7 million |
| 2006 | 16 | 8 | 8 | $2.6 million |
| 2005 | 551 | 32 | 519 | $58.1 million |
| 2004 | 109 | 71 | 38 | $16.2 million |
| 2003 | 603 | 101 | 502 | $44 million |
| 2002 | 110 | 110 | 0 | $13.4 million |
| 2001 | 22 | 22 | 0 | $3 million |
| 2000 | 37 | 37 | 0 | $4.9 million |
Homes authorized by building permits, counted in the year the permit was issued. U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey.
Property tax runs below the Florida norm
The median bill is $2,063 (Florida: $2,730), 0.63% of a home’s value a year, against 0.76% statewide.
Census American Community Survey 2020–24: the median real-estate tax bill homeowners report, and that bill ÷ the median home value. Bills include town, school and county taxes. The Census reports bills over $10,000 only as “$10,000+”.
The rest of a budget near Stuart
Only figures published free for the whole country, each labeled with the area it covers: the Port St. Lucie, FL metro area, or Florida. Groceries follow the goods price level; nobody publishes them town by town.
| Cost | Here | Compared with | Area | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prices overall U.S. = 100 | 100 | FL 103 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Goods (groceries, clothing, cars…) U.S. = 100 | 96 | FL 98 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Utilities U.S. = 100 | 87 | FL 90 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Other services U.S. = 100 | 99 | FL 101 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
Price levels: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities 2024 (metro area and state). Electricity: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A.
Stuart vs. its neighbors
Of the 3 towns here with a Zillow value, Stuart has the lowest. North River Shores and Rio have no Zillow value, so they are in the table only.
Cost next door · one source per column
| Town | Cost | Typical home Zillow, September 2026 | Median value Census 2020–24 | Tax rate bill ÷ value | 2-bed rent HUD 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stuart | C− | $374K | $329K | 0.63% | $1,760 |
| North River Shores | D | — | $310K | 0.94% | $1,790 |
| Jensen Beach | C− | $416K | $412K | 0.75% | $1,790 |
| Rio | B− | — | $304K | 0.91% | $1,790 |
| Palm City | D | $622K | $563K | 0.82% | $2,200 |
“—” under Zillow: Zillow publishes no value for that town, so it’s left blank rather than mixed with Census figures.
Questions about the cost of living in Stuart
Is Stuart expensive to live in?
Measured against what households in the area earn, Stuart costs more than 85% of U.S. towns: a C− for cost of living, #350 of 637 in Florida. The typical home costs 4.4 years of the median household income of the Port St. Lucie, FL metro area ($75K).
How much does a house cost in Stuart?
About $374K, Zillow’s typical value for September 2026, up 0.1% in a year. The Florida typical home is $375K.
What salary do you need to live in Stuart?
To buy the typical home with 20% down at 6.3%, about $92,000 a year, keeping the payment (about $2,160 a month with tax and insurance) at 28% of income. To rent a two-bedroom at 30% of income, about $70,000.
How much is rent in Stuart?
HUD puts a two-bedroom at about $1,760 a month with utilities, the going rate for someone moving in. Renters already here pay a median of $1,586 (Census 2020–24).
What are property taxes in Stuart?
The median bill is $2,063 a year, 0.63% of the median home value (Florida: $2,730, 0.76%), from the Census 2020–24.
Are home prices in Stuart going up?
Barely: up 0.1% in the past year and 18.6% in five years, against 18.6% across Florida (Zillow).
Neighbors talk housing
What Stuart buyers, sellers and renters are saying.
Home values: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), Zillow Research, September 2026. Sales, days on market and supply: Redfin Data Center, September 2026. Income, ownership, taxes and rent: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. New homes: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey. Fair Market Rents: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The calculator is an estimate, not a loan offer. Regional price levels: BEA; electricity: EIA. How TownRatings grades cost of living.