Florida cities

The best places to live in Florida

Florida's largest cities ranked on cost, safety, schools, jobs and quality of life. Riverview leads the list.

We scored Florida's cities on the same factors as our state rankings, then ranked them. Below are the 10 largest by population. Two scores per city: value (what you get for the cost) and overall livability (everything combined). Tap any city for its full profile.

#CityMedian homeRentValueOverall
2 Jacksonville $203,400 $1,146 78 81
3 St. Petersburg $242,100 $1,251 75 81
8 Tampa $277,700 $1,249 70 80
11 Miami $369,100 $1,361 65 78
12 Tallahassee $223,400 $1,072 71 78
33 Orlando $283,700 $1,346 62 70
77 Fort Lauderdale $364,100 $1,431 52 63
88 Hialeah $280,000 $1,313 50 60
97 Port St. Lucie $245,900 $1,604 54 58
116 Cape Coral $255,700 $1,456 50 54

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Sources: Home prices and rent from Zillow; income and jobs from the U.S. Census; schools from state education data; crime from the FBI; air quality from the EPA. Rankings are within Florida. Updated 2026.