Full pricing breakdown

What It Really Costs to Live in Northeast Florida

Home prices, property taxes, insurance, and the fees people forget to budget for. Real numbers, with sources, so you can plan before you move.

By Joey Larsen, Realtor with LaRosa Realty North Florida. Updated October 2026.

• Home prices
• Property taxes
• Homestead
• Amendment 3
• Veterans and seniors
• HOA and CDD fees
• Insurance
• Utilities
• Sales tax and cars
• FAQ

Day-to-day prices here are right around the national average. The federal government's price index puts the Jacksonville area at 99.5 for 2024, where the U.S. is 100. Florida as a whole is 103.4.

Home prices

These are typical sale prices over the past 12 months, pulled straight from the MLS. Prices inside each county still vary a lot. A home at the beach and a home 20 minutes inland can be very different numbers.

Residential sales, October 2025 to September 2026. "Typical" is the middle of the 12 monthly median sold prices. Ponte Vedra Beach has fewer sales, so its monthly number jumps around more.

Property taxes

Florida property tax is set by "millage." One mill is $1 of tax for every $1,000 of taxable value. Your total depends on which county and city the home sits in, and every home in a given tax district pays the same rate.

Here's what a $500,000 home would cost in property tax in its first full year with a homestead exemption:

2025 final millage, the latest official rates when this was written. Some districts inside a county run a little higher. For example, the Ponte Vedra Beach district in St. Johns County is 13.7150, and St. Augustine Beach is 16.1093. Jacksonville and St. Johns County voted in September 2026 to keep their own rates the same for 2026. Homestead column uses the 2026 exemption: $25,000 off school taxes and $51,411 off everything else. "Without homestead" means a second home or rental. These numbers leave out non-ad valorem assessments like trash, stormwater, and CDD fees, which show up on the same bill.

Pay early and you save a little: 4% off if you pay in November, 3% in December, 2% in January, and 1% in February.

The homestead exemption and Save Our Homes

If the home is your permanent residence, Florida takes a big bite out of the taxable value and limits how fast it can rise.

• The exemption: the first $25,000 of assessed value is exempt from all property taxes. A second exemption, $26,411 in 2026, comes off everything except school taxes.
• Who qualifies: you have to own the home and live in it as your permanent residence on January 1.
• Deadline: file with the county property appraiser by March 1. Have your Florida driver license, vehicle registration, and voter registration ready.
• Save Our Homes cap: after your first homestead year, your assessed value can only go up 3% a year or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. For 2026 that was 2.7%.
• Portability: if you move from one Florida homestead to another, you can bring up to $500,000 of your Save Our Homes savings with you. This doesn't apply to moves from another state.

Amendment 3 on the November 2026 ballot

Extra savings for veterans and seniors

Veterans and military

• 10% or more disability: $5,000 off your assessed value.
• 100% permanent and total, service-connected: no property tax on your homestead at all. A surviving spouse can keep it.
• 65 or older with a combat-related disability: a discount on your homestead tax equal to your disability percentage.
• Deployed overseas: an extra exemption based on the number of days you were deployed in support of designated operations.
• Active duty: you can rent out your homestead while you're away on orders without losing the exemption.

Seniors 65 and older

• Low-income senior exemption: up to an extra $50,000 off, where the county or city has adopted it. Jacksonville and St. Johns County have. For 2026 the household income limit is $38,686.
• These exemptions don't apply to school taxes.

Ask the county property appraiser which exemptions you qualify for when you file for homestead. I'm an Army veteran, and I'm happy to walk you through it.

HOA and CDD fees

Many newer communities here have two separate fees. The HOA covers the neighborhood and is paid to the association. The CDD, or Community Development District, is a special district created under Florida law that pays for roads, water lines, and amenities, and its fee shows up on your property tax bill. In some communities the CDD is the big number and the HOA is tiny.

Median fees on active single-family listings in the MLS as of October 11, 2026. The districts' own adopted 2027 budgets put most single-family CDD amounts at about $2,000 to $2,500 in Nocatee (Duval side), $2,500 to $3,100 in Shearwater, $3,000 to $4,900 in RiverTown, and $4,300 to $5,300 in Beachwalk. The amount depends on lot size and which bond series the lot is in, and the debt part ends once the district's bonds are paid off. Always confirm the exact numbers for the home you're buying.

Homeowners and flood insurance

Insurance is the number that surprises people most, and it depends more on the house than the zip code. Florida's Office of Insurance Regulation puts the average homeowners premium at $3,736 a year including wind coverage (September 2026), and the good news is that rates have started coming down. The same office reported premiums falling in 51 counties in 2026, and Citizens, the state-backed insurer, cut its homeowners rates by an average of 8.8% starting July 1, 2026.

• Roof age matters most. An older roof can mean a higher premium or fewer companies willing to write the policy. Older homes usually need a 4-point inspection too.
• Get a wind mitigation inspection. Florida requires insurers to give discounts for things like hurricane straps, impact windows, and roof shape. The inspection documents them.
• Flood is a separate policy. A regular homeowners policy doesn't cover flooding. If the home is in a high-risk flood zone (A or AE) and you have a mortgage, your lender will require flood insurance. In an X zone it's optional, and usually much cheaper.
• Citizens policies now come with a flood requirement. Florida law requires a flood policy for Citizens customers with $400,000 or more in dwelling coverage, and for all Citizens homeowners policies starting January 1, 2027.
• Get real quotes during your inspection period, before you're locked in. I can connect you with local agents who write policies here every day.

Utilities

Your provider depends on the address. JEA serves Jacksonville and some nearby areas, and FPL serves much of St. Johns and Flagler counties. Other areas are served by Beaches Energy Services, Clay Electric Cooperative, or Florida Public Utilities. Summer bills run higher because of air conditioning. Trash and stormwater fees often show up on the property tax bill instead.

Sales tax, income tax, and bringing your car

The county part of the tax only applies to the first $5,000 of any single item, so big purchases like a car or a boat mostly pay the 6% state rate.

• No state income tax. Florida doesn't tax wages, Social Security, pensions, military retirement, or IRA and 401(k) withdrawals. You still pay federal tax.
• Registering your car: new residents have 10 days to register. Expect about $366 to $384 the first time for a used car from another state. That's the $225 initial registration fee, the $85.25 title, a $28 plate, and the yearly registration. Military members stationed here on orders and recently separated veterans can skip the $225 fee in many cases.

Common questions