Southeast · Updated October 2026
Florida in numbers, from the same public data Locustep uses to rank all 50 states: rent, pay, taxes, safety, disaster risk and weather, plus the cities worth a look.
Two-bedroom rent
$1,962/mo
U.S. average $1,759
HUD Fair Market Rents FY2027 (40th percentile, population-weighted across the state)
Rent vs. income
30.3%
of median household income for a year of two-bedroom rent
HUD Fair Market Rents FY2027 ÷ 2024 ACS 1-year estimates (Census B19013)
State income tax
None
on wage income
One of 9 states with no wage income tax
State revenue departments, 2026 income tax rates (sources listed per state)
Property tax
0.75%
effective rate on owner-occupied homes
Everyday costs
100.1
index, housing excluded (U.S. = 100)
BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024 (released February 2026), housing and utilities removed
Natural disaster risk
76th
percentile, FEMA expected annual loss (lower is safer)
Where Florida stands out: no state income tax on wages and the 5th lightest state and local tax bill among the 50 states.
What to weigh: the 4th highest natural-disaster risk, the 10th most expensive two-bedroom rent and the 3rd biggest rent-to-income bite.
Overall, a married couple on the U.S. median household income would pay about 4.7% of it in state and local income, property and sales tax here, the 5th lowest of the 50 states.
Average afternoon highs and overnight lows in Orlando (Orlando Intl Airport station), NOAA 1991–2020 normals.
| Season | High | Low |
|---|---|---|
| Winter (Dec–Feb) | 73°F | 52°F |
| Spring (Mar–May) | 84°F | 61°F |
| Summer (Jun–Aug) | 91°F | 73°F |
| Fall (Sep–Nov) | 84°F | 66°F |
$2,564/mo two-bedroom · $2,121 one-bedroom (Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL HUD Metro FMR Area)
Realistically, Miami is a hot, humid, intensely international city where Spanish is as useful as English and the social scene runs late. Expect world-class food and nightlife, brutal traffic, hurricane season, and housing costs that badly outpace local wages.
$1,959/mo two-bedroom · $1,726 one-bedroom (Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL MSA)
Orlando is a sprawling, car-dependent service-and-tourism economy built around the theme parks, with a fast-growing tech and simulation sector alongside it. Cheap by big-metro standards, relentlessly hot and rainy in summer, and light on walkable neighbourhoods outside a few pockets.
$1,917/mo two-bedroom · $1,648 one-bedroom (Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL MSA)
Tampa is the most balanced of Florida's big metros — real jobs in finance, healthcare and shipping, a genuine downtown, and beaches within half an hour. Traffic and insurance costs are rising fast, and flood exposure is a serious line item.
$1,694/mo two-bedroom · $1,421 one-bedroom (Jacksonville, FL HUD Metro FMR Area)
Jacksonville is enormous by land area, low-density and inexpensive, with a working-port and logistics economy plus banking back-offices. Beaches are excellent, downtown is quiet after dark, and you will drive everywhere. Least tourist-shaped of Florida's big cities.
$2,188/mo two-bedroom · $1,876 one-bedroom (North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL MSA)
Sarasota is an affluent, arts-heavy Gulf Coast city with an older population, excellent beaches and a slower pace. Strong cultural institutions for its size, limited career ladders outside healthcare and services, and housing that has become genuinely expensive.
$1,424/mo two-bedroom · $1,264 one-bedroom (Tallahassee, FL HUD Metro FMR Area)
Tallahassee is a state-government and university town, greener and hillier than most of Florida, with a young population and a low cost of living. The economy is stable but narrow, and the city empties noticeably when the semester ends.
$2,321/mo two-bedroom · $1,902 one-bedroom (Fort Lauderdale, FL HUD Metro FMR Area)
Fort Lauderdale is a canal-laced beach city between Miami and Palm Beach, with a busy port, yachting and a big LGBTQ community. Expensive and car-heavy, with major hurricane and flood exposure and rising insurance costs.
$2,349/mo two-bedroom · $2,008 one-bedroom (West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, FL HUD Metro FMR Area)
West Palm Beach is the business and cultural centre of Palm Beach County, across the lagoon from wealthy Palm Beach. Growing finance sector, a lively waterfront, high prices, and hurricane and insurance costs to match.
Rents: HUD Fair Market Rents FY2027 (40th percentile, population-weighted across the state) (metro areas). City notes: Locustep.
Closest on Locustep’s match factors: cost, housing, taxes, safety, jobs, schools, healthcare, outdoors, disaster risk and climate.
Ranks compare the 50 states. Locustep updates these figures when the agencies publish new data.
No. Florida is one of nine states that don’t tax wage income. Sales and property taxes still apply: a married couple on the U.S. median household income would pay about 4.7% of income in state and local income, property and sales tax (Locustep estimate, 2026).
A typical two-bedroom rents for about $1,962 a month and a one-bedroom for about $1,665, using HUD’s FY2027 Fair Market Rents averaged across the state by population. That is $203 more than the U.S. average of $1,759. Rent in the bigger metros can be well above the state figure.
Leaving housing aside, everyday prices (goods and services other than housing) index at 100.1 against a U.S. average of 100 (BEA, 2024), and the median home value indexes at 110.1 against the U.S. median (Census, 2024). Two-bedroom rent takes 30.3% of the state’s median household income of $77,735.
Florida recorded 267.1 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in 2024 (FBI), the 20th lowest rate of the 50 states. Crime varies a lot between and within cities, so check the specific area you’re considering.
The main hazards are hurricanes and flooding. On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Florida’s expected yearly loss from natural hazards sits at the 76th percentile nationally (lower is safer). Risk differs sharply by county, so look up the county too.
Places people most often weigh include Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville and Sarasota. Each has a different cost, climate and character; Locustep compares their rent, disaster risk, weather and pay side by side.