Best Florida Beach Towns To Live In 2019: List

SARASOTA, FL — More than 30 Florida cities and towns are ranked among the top 100 best beach towns to live in, including four in the top 10, according to a new ranking by personal finance website WalletHub.

Naples was selected as the number one beach spot in the nation, while Boca Raton ranked fifth. Sarasota came in sixth and Venice ranked 10th.

"With summer being peak moving season, the personal-finance website WalletHub took a close look at 2019's Best Beach Towns to Live in," the website penned. "To determine the most livable beachside communities, WalletHub compared 192 cities across 62 key metrics."

The criteria ranged from housing costs to share of for-sale waterfront homes and quality of beach water.

"Our study divides beach towns into two categories, those by the ocean and those by lakes," according to WalletHub.

Rounding out the top 10 ocean beach towns are Lahaina, Hawaii in second place; Newport Beach, California in third place. Carlsbad, California ranked fourth while North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina ranked seventh. Carlifornia's Encinitas and Santa Monica ranked eighth and ninth respectively.

Here's how Florida beach towns ranked:

• Naples, FL (1)
• Boca Raton (5)
• Sarasota (6)
• Venice (10)
• Jupiter (11)
• Destin (14)
• Key Biscayne (17)
• Jacksonville Beach (19)
• Coral Gables (20)
• Vero Beach (21)
• Fernandina Beach (22)
• St. Augustine (31)
• Stuart (32)
• Satellite Beach (33)
• Atlantic Beach (39)
• Key West (43)
• Marco Island (47)
• Clearwater (54)
• Dunedin (55)
• Miami Beach (57)
• Cocoa Beach (58)
• Panama City Beach (59)
• Bonita Springs (66)
• Pensacola (67)
• Tarpon Springs (68)
• New Smyrna Beach (71)
• Ormond Beach (72)
• Delray Beach (74)
• Jensen Beach (76)
• Fort Walton Beach (78)
• Gulfport (81)
• North Palm Beach (82)
• Hollywood (84)
• Boynton Beach (87)
• Merritt Island (107)
• Navarre (108)
• Hallandale Beach (116)
• Lake Worth (122)
• Fort Pierce (126)
• Hobe Sound (128)
• Lantana (129)
• Daytona Beach (132)
• Cocoa (134)
• Hudson (136)
• Dania Beach (138)
• Apollo Beach (140)
• Panama City (141)
• Riviera Beach (143)
• Holiday (146)

"Miami Beach, Coral Gables and Key Biscayne, Florida and Port Royal, South Carolina, all share the fewest disaster declarations since 1953," said WalletHub, noting that the 12 declarations were 5.8 times fewer than the California cities of Santa Monica, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Palos Verdes Estates and Malibu that had the most with 69.

Traverse City, Michigan, topped the list of best lake towns. Folsom, California and Cornelius, North Carolina, rounded out the top three at second and third, respectively.

Here's how Florida lake towns ranked on the list:

• St. Cloud (27)
• Sebring (34)

Read the complete rankings here.