Florida's 10 Most Affordable Communities: Report

FLORIDA — When the American Dream costs a mountain of debt and 60-hour work-weeks, it can start to seem more like a nightmare. Fortunately, there are still parts of Florida that qualify as affordable, according to a new study of the Most Affordable Places to Live in Florida.

The consumer financial data company SmartAsset concluded that the West Vero Corridor is the most affordable place to own a home in all of Florida. The company crunched the numbers on taxes, homeowners’ insurance, and home costs relative to the local median income to come up with the ten most affordable places to buy a home in the Sunshne State.

However, the pandemic changed the way Americans think about where to live, and the nation saw a mass migration of remote workers looking for space to spread out during the pandemic without busting the budget.

According to a Bankrate/YouGov poll, more than 10 percent of Americans moved during the pandemic — mostly to smaller and less dense cities. Roughly a quarter of those who moved said they made their decision because of the pandemic.

Florida has a reputation for being one of the more affordable states in the nation, and there are still regions where a person can own a home without spending more than a quarter of their income on housing.

Still, SmartAsset managed to find ten smaller cities where the American Dream meets affordability. These are places where homeownership costs were lowest relative to the median income in each location.

The West Vero Corridor came in as the state’s most affordable place to live thanks to a low average annual mortgage payment of just over $2,300. With a median income of $41,000, the average resident can afford to buy a home.

Not surprisingly, the further you get from the Tampa and Miami areas, the more affordable housing becomes.

In Florida, the average homeowner pays $1,503 a year in property taxes, the average annual mortgage payment is $7,203, the average median income is $55,660.

According to SmartAsset, the top 10 most affordable cities in Florida are:

1. West Vero Corridor
2. Combee Settlement
3. West Pensacola
4. Beacon Square
5. Fort Meade
6. Brooksville
7. Brent
8. Indiantown
9. Bellview
10. East Milton

The full report, including the methodology, key findings and additional infographics, can be found here.