Best Places to Raise A Family In Florida: 2023 Report

FLORIDA — Safety, varied shopping and dining venues nearby, and great weather — unless a hurricane is bearing down on the state — were some of the top reasons many Florida residents give for moving to the state.

A climate that encourages residents to be outdoors, healthy job opportunities, access to the water, and the abundance of things to do all help burnish the state's luster, even if the continuous influx of newcomers and traffic can make Florida life somewhat challenging.

But there are degrees of goodness, and education website Niche has parsed the metrics to determine what community ranks where on a list of 2023 Best Places to Raise a Family in Florida.

Niche analysts judged Florida neighborhoods on their schools, housing, jobs, weather, crime rate and seven other "quality of life" yardsticks, giving each a traditional "report card" of academic-type grades.

Thirty-two of the top 50 best places to raise a family in Florida are either neighborhoods in Tampa or suburbs of that city, according to Niche, so maybe money really can buy happiness — or at least a happy childhood.

But Nocatee, a suburb of Jacksonville, ranked No. 1 overall.

Orlando and Miami also had several neighborhoods or suburbs represented on the list.

Here's the Top 50 best places to raise a family statewide:

1. Nocatee, suburb of Jacksonville
2. Audubon Park, neighborhood in Orlando
3. Palma Ceia West, neighborhood in Tampa
4. Hyde Park - Spanishtown Creek, neighborhood in Tampa
5. Harbour Island, neighborhood in Tampa
6. Beach Park, neighborhood in Tampa
7. Arbor Greene, neighborhood in Tampa
8. Virginia Park, neighborhood in Tampa
9. Palm Valley, suburb of Jacksonville
10. Cory Lake Isles, neighborhood in Tampa
11. Golfview, neighborhood in Tampa
12. Delaney Park, neighborhood in Orlando
13. New Suburb Beautiful, neighborhood in Tampa
14. Lancaster Park, neighborhood in Orlando
15. Bel Mar, neighborhood in Tampa
16. Tampa Palms, neighborhood in Tampa
17. Palma Ceia, neighborhood in Tampa
18. Keystone, suburb of Tampa
19. Westchase, suburb of Tampa
20. Culbreath, neighborhood in Tampa
21. Fruit Cove, suburb of Jacksonville
22. Hunters Green, neighborhood in Tampa
23. Tampa Palms North, neighborhood in Tampa
24. Fleming Island, suburb of Jacksonville
25. Davis Islands, neighborhood in Tampa
26. Bayshore Beautiful, neighborhood in Tampa
27. Palma Ceia Pines, neighborhood in Tampa
28. Baldwin Park, neighborhood in Orlando
29. Bayshore Gardens, neighborhood in Tampa
30. Pebble Creek, suburb of Tampa
31. Historic Hyde Park, neighborhood in Tampa
32. Lake Nona Central, neighborhood in Orlando
33. Swann Estates, neighborhood in Tampa
34. Richmond Place, neighborhood in Tampa
35. Downtown, neighborhood in Tampa
36. Hyde Park, neighborhood in Tampa
37. Sunset Park, neighborhood in Tampa
38. Lake Davis/Greenwood, neighborhood in Orlando
39. Riverside Heights, neighborhood in Tampa
40. Grand Hampton, neighborhood in Tampa
41. Parkland Estates, neighborhood in Tampa
42. Pinecrest, suburb of Miami
43. K Bar Ranch, neighborhood in Tampa
44. Gotha, suburb of Orlando
45. College Park, neighborhood in Orlando
46. Colonialtown North, neighborhood in Orlando
47. Coconut Grove, neighborhood in Miami
48. Horizon West, suburb of Orlando
49. Heathrow, suburb of Orlando
50. Palmetto Bay, suburb of Miami

If you want to see why your town or neighborhood received the score it did, click on the full list for more information from Niche, and search through hundreds of communities for their Niche descriptions.