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These are the best places to move to in Florida. Have you even heard of No. 1?

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Florida seems to be the place to be, with millions of people moving here over the past few years. But not everywhere in the state is equally appealing.

This month, Consumer Affairs has released its study on the best and worst places to move to in Florida.

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The study examines the Sunshine State’s 50 largest cities and ranks them based on five main factors:

  • Affordability (30%) — Includes median household incomes, median housing costs as a share of media income, and media rent
  • Economic Strength (20%) — Includes five-year population growth, poverty rate, and home appreciation
  • Education and Health Care (10%) — Includes percentage of residents with health insurance, number of health care professionals per capita, and high school completion rate
  • Quality of Life (10%) — Includes walkability and the percentage of residents within a 10-minute walk of “green space”
  • Safety (30%) — Includes rates of violent crime and property crime

The No. 1 spot on this list went to Wesley Chapel in Pasco County, which also ranked highest for health and education. In all, Wesley Chapel scored high for all of the factors except quality of life.

“Wesley Chapel ranks No.1 on our list primarily through strong health care, education and safety scores. Having the highest number of health care practitioners per capita, the second-highest rate of insured residents and the third-highest high school graduation rate makes it the best city for health and education. This area also comes in second for safety, with only 0.82 violent crimes per 1,000 people each year. This is 68% lower than the Florida average.

Wesley Chapel’s economy is one of the strongest in Florida. The city has the highest five-year population growth rate in the state (49%) and the highest median household income on our list ($112,045). All of these factors have allowed Wesley Chapel’s economy to thrive, attracting more and more new residents over time.”

Consumer Affairs, "Best places to move to in Florida"

In Central Florida, Palm Bay ranked the highest at No. 7, followed closely by The Villages at No. 8.

The Villages in particular scored the best when it came to safety, though it also scored well in health and education.

On the flip side, though, Miami Beach was rated the lowest among these cities, despite scoring highest for quality of life.

“Miami Beach ranks as the worst place to live in Florida due to poor safety, economy and affordability scores,” the study reads. “It has the second-highest violent crime rate and the fifth-highest rent on our list.”

Meanwhile, the rest of the ranking is as follows:

RankCitySafety RankAffordability RankEconomy RankHealth/Education RankQuality of Life Rank
1Wesley Chapel21011145
2North Port7812838
3Coral Springs62631410
4Riverview37161244
5Tamarac132712723
6Pembroke Pines8324430
7Palm Bay149202940
8The Villages11629947
9Port Saint Lucie52892239
10Largo293232828
11Miramar123783425
12Cape Coral421241141
13Brandon105393036
14Plantation26297518
15Deltona1913151337
16Palm Coast91534643
17Sunrise113463321
18Spring Hill166282342
19Boca Raton1838141922
20Clearwater281436319
21Lakeland241233229
22Davie2131191026
23Saint Petersburg421927216
24Tampa32223877
25Doral174421519
26Hollywood223531255
27Tallahassee362461627
28Ocala3411433732
29Fort Myers2523352031
30Hialeah154121473
31West Palm Beach3724133820
32Gainesville381847315
33Deerfield Beach2043184016
34Melbourne4117411734
35Fort Lauderdale403630324
36Boynton Beach3039374611
37Kissimmee2730403533
38Lehigh Acres2325173946
39Daytona Beach444443614
40Orlando4520261812
41Miami314725412
42Miami Gardens334654517
43Pompano Beach3540224313
44Lauderhill394232428
45Homestead4333104424
46Jacksonville461422435
47Miami Beach474545261

*According to Consumer Affairs, Pine Hills, Poinciana and Town ‘n’ Country were omitted from the ranking due to missing crime data.


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