Top 8 Cheapest Places To Live In Florida In 2021

So, you're considering moving to Florida, but not just Florida, the Northwest part of Florida, which has commonly been called The Redneck Riviera. But in all seriousness folks, you're trying to come here and you're wondering, where can I set my roots down? And, where are the cheapest places that I can move to this area and still enjoy everything that's here? On this video, we're going to find out the top eight cheapest places to move to within reason here in Northwest, Florida.

All right. So, let's talk about it. What really encompasses the Northwest portion of Florida? Well, in this case, it's anywhere between, pretty much Alabama, that's out there in Pensacola all the way out to just beyond where Panama City is, it is before Tallahassee. So, that's considered the Northwest part of Florida. So, anything south of Georgia, Alabama, of course, North of the Gulf Coast, this is the area that we're concentrating on.

So, we're going to do is start with the cheapest place and then start moving ourselves down to, well, the not so cheap. It's still pretty cheap in comparison.

1. DeFuniak Springs

That's right. It's called DeFuniak or deFunk or whatever the locals want to call it. This area is got a population of about 6,448 people. Now, this is located in Walton County and it's just about midway north, kind of on the same area, and goes through I-10 like right in the middle of the county in Walton County. Now, its the median home price in this area, it's only $175,000 and you probably would get a good amount of land with that too. And, your median rent for this area is $746 per month. Now, this is really good because what we want to do is compare these to all the national average prices. So, your median home price value throughout the continent of the United States is $217,500. Now, this is in 2021 if you want to make those comparisons. For your rent, rent is around $1,055 per month on average across the United States. So, so far, so good. The only downturn about this is that it's kind of a way and that's a pretty rural place. But, if that's what you're after, fantastic because you do have access to I-10. Which is going to allow you to get into Crestview, to get down to Pensacola out to Tallahassee. And, it's a straight shot down if you want to get into Freeport and down into the Destin, Miramar, and even 30A area. It's a little bit of a trek through fields. But other than that, it's a nice place to go.

2. Pensacola

Pensacola is a when I would consider a medium size City. Its population is 52,642. Its median home price is only $250,000 which is really nice. And its median rent is about $954 per month, not bad at all. A couple things you want to know about Pensacola, Pensacola Beach, which most people come down for the beach. You actually have to travel to which is right across this big old bridge and technically it's in, well, Gulf Breeze. So, it's a little bit of a trek there. It's a medium-sized city, meaning that it does have all the cool amenities. It's got a semi-pro hockey, semi-pro baseball team throughout here. Lots of things to do, lots of industry, other part about this is a little bit older. So, some of the homes will be up to a certain scale that you might be anticipating in that size of a city. But, make sure to look at your different options as you do move there. But again, a lot of people are traveling here to do things. So, you can live right in that City. Just make sure that the surrounding areas will meet the needs of you and your family.

3. Crestview in Holt

Now, Crestview in the Holt area is in Okaloosa County, right about the middle part of the county. And it is right there where I-10 goes. This area was also known as The Hub City because there were railroads that went through here. We had Roads, there were different rivers that came in through here and it was kind of just the central hub where everything went. The nice thing about this is, it became very popular, not just because of that, but proximity to Eglin Air Force Base in the Eglin Air Force Base and Hurlburt area. This is probably the most portable area all around for our military and vets. And, contractors have moved to this area, which is the biggest employer. The population in Crestview is growing, and it's at 24,117. It's median home value is $251,000 and this median rent is around $1,023 per month. Some drawback to this is traffic gets a little rough going north and south throughout Crestview when those bases do let out because it is right north of Duke Field. So, towards the end of it, the infrastructure is growing but it still doesn't support the amount of traffic and how fast this area is growing.

4. Milton Bagdad area

This is actually located just northeast of where Pensacola, the main Pensacola area is. It's nice, it's on the right on the bay as well. And, there are a lot of opportunities for this area to grow. Now, its population is around 9,995. Its median home price is $265,500 and its median rent is around, $1,155 per month. Now again, this is a growing area. We do have a lot of different developing neighborhoods that are been going through here, at least at the date of this video in 2021. So, you're able to find new construction at a reasonable price. Most of the people that are living in these areas are commuting to Pensacola to Navarre, or even to the military installations like Hurlburt Field and Eglin.

All right moving on down.

5. Fort Walton Beach

Fort Walton Beach is right in the center of the military bases that I had talked about, which are Duke Field, Hurlburt Field, and Eglin Air Force Base. Now, Eglin Air Force Base takes up a huge portion of the area that we're talking about. So again, one of the larger employers. Now, the population in this area is 22,084. Now, when I talk about the Fort Walton Beach area, this is also in companying if you're looking at a map or rather encompassing. It is, also has Ocean City and Wright are also part of this area as well as Cinco Bayou. All those areas are all combined to what we, in the local area, consider Fort Walton Beach. Now, that being said, the median home price for this area is $288,000 and its median rent is around $988 per month. Fort Walton Beach is kind of a happy median of all the places and it's max is almost right in the middle of the places that you want to go. Why? It's because it has proximity to the places that you're going to go that are a little bit more affluent and you won't pay as much. The reason I've really like this area is that you're not trapped behind different phase and bayous and things like that. So, you don't have to deal with traffic and if you are, there are alternate routes to get around things. Now, a lot of these other areas don't have that, but this one does and it is where things are at. Now, it's a little eclectic in this area as far as the different types of housing, but by far, it's my and our team's happy medium for this list.

6. Mary Esther

Now, Mary Esther is located just to the west of Fort Walton Beach on the southern part right or Hurlburt Field is on the map. Now, Mary Esther was right there on the intercoastal waterway access to Navarre Beach, and Fort Walton Beach, and all those different areas. The population for this, it's not that big, it's only around 4,309. Its median home price is around $290,000 and its median rent is around $1,105 per month. And, Mary Esther's drawback, again is going to be the traffic coming out of Hurlburt Field, anytime between about 3 to 7 p.m, you could get stuck in there. And, there's not a whole lot of different ways to get around things.

7. Panama City

Panama City Beach, Panama City. Now, this one, this is 2021 just a couple of years ago, got devastated by Hurricane Michael that came through this area, but it is building back up. The population in Panama City is around 36,640. Its median home price is around $296,000. Its median rent is $945 per month. Panama City is another, what we call, a medium-sized city with lots of different things to do. There have been people that have said that certain parts of this does look a little rundown, but you do get that in different areas when you have older and bigger cities. And, Panama City Beach also, has access right there to Tyndall Air Force Base, which is being built up to one of the most modern ones that we're going to see in our time from the Air Force, which will be pretty cool. And of course, we do have a good amount of tourism that goes in there and you do have access to all the different amenities in that area.

All right, wrapping it up here.

8. Pace

Now, Pace is right there on the border between the Pensacola area and, kind of in-between that in where Milton and Bagdad are. Really, really good place because you do have access to the highway system to get around there. Its population is 22,860. Its median home price is around $305,000 and its median rent is around $1,092 per month. Now, this has been a pretty desirable area. It has grown significantly over the years and you're going to find a lot more different and newer construction kind of popping up around this area as well. And, it becomes more of a hub where people have to go versus we're used to be, just be traveling in and out of Pensacola. So, Pace is going to be the end of this list and it could be the next choice for you.

So, that's all we have for the Top Eight Cheapest Places to Live in Northwest, Florida here in 2021. If you have any questions about anything that we had mentioned here, please feel free to call/text us at 850.320.7757 or email us at Admin@WhittemoreGroupRE.com