Cost of Living in Jacksonville, Florida: The 2026 Numbers
Jacksonville is in Duval County, Florida (ZIP codes 32218, 32256, 32219, 32210). · Homes for sale in Jacksonville · Duval County
Cost of living in Jacksonville, FL (2026): owning the median home — $315,000 over the last 12 months of sales — costs about $2,220 a month with 20% down at 6.71% (principal and interest $1,628, Duval County property tax about $395, insurance about $110 at the Citizens county average, and a typical HOA of $88). Renting runs about $1,627 a month across the ZIP codes where Jacksonville homes sell (Zillow Observed Rent Index). Florida has no state income tax; the costs that move the most between Florida cities are the home price, property tax at your purchase price, and insurance.
Jacksonville is the cheapest large metro in Florida to own a home in, and that is not a marketing line; it is what the table below says when you run the same math on every city we track. The median home costs about the same per month as a mid-range apartment costs in South Florida.
What the indices miss about Jacksonville is that the savings are in the house price and the insurance, not in the taxes. Duval's millage is ordinary; the land is what is cheap.
What it costs to own a home in Jacksonville, line by line
The median Jacksonville home sold for $315,000 over the last 12 months (9,336 closings across 1248 communities), about $182 per square foot for a typical 1,690 sq ft. Here is what that home costs a new owner each month:
| Principal & interest (6.71%, 30-yr, 20% down) | $1,628 |
| Property tax (Duval County, 17.86 mills, after $50,000 homestead) | $395 |
| Home insurance (Citizens Duval County average) | $110 |
| HOA (median where one applies; 62% of listings) | $88 |
| Estimated monthly cost to own the median home | $2,220 |
Two of those lines are the ones out-of-state buyers get wrong. The property tax on a listing is the seller’s capped bill; yours resets to your purchase price at closing, so the figure above is the honest first-full-year number. And the insurance line is a county average from Citizens; a real quote on a specific roof and flood zone can be far from it in either direction.
The HOA line is small because so much of Jacksonville is older, non-HOA housing, but do not read that as a citywide rule: the newer master-planned communities on the Southside and Northside carry both an HOA and a CDD, and the CDD is the number that surprises people at closing.
Renting vs. owning in Jacksonville
The Zillow Observed Rent Index across the ZIP codes where Jacksonville homes sell puts a typical rent at about $1,627 a month, up 1.8% over the past year. Owning the median home costs about $2,220, so the monthly gap is roughly $593 more to own before tax treatment, maintenance and equity. Across those ZIPs the median household income is about $73,203, and the price-to-income ratio runs about 4.3.
The rent-versus-own gap here is one of the narrowest in the state, which is why Jacksonville still has first-time buyers in a market where most of Florida has priced them out. If you are renting in a bigger metro and running the numbers on a move, this is the comparison that usually decides it.
What your budget buys in Jacksonville
Three price points from 5,557 recent closings, each with what actually sold within 10% of that price and what that home costs to own:
- Around $228,000: a 3-bed, 2-bath home of about 1,395 sq ft, built around 2003 — roughly $1,641/month to own (714 sales).
- Around $315,000: a 3-bed, 2-bath home of about 1,707 sq ft, built around 2005 — roughly $2,220/month to own (1081 sales).
- Around $417,990: a 3-bed, 2-bath home of about 1,957 sq ft, built around 2000 — roughly $2,905/month to own (715 sales).
Property taxes in Jacksonville
Duval County’s typical total millage is 17.86 mills, about 1.79% of taxable value. After the $50,000 homestead exemption the median home’s bill is about $4,734 a year. Once you homestead, Florida’s Save Our Homes cap limits assessment growth to 3% a year, which is why long-time owners pay far less than a new buyer in the same house. Full worksheet: Duval County property tax guide.
Home insurance in Jacksonville
Citizens Property Insurance’s average premium in Duval County is about $1,315 a year. Florida premiums are driven by roof age, wind-mitigation features, distance to the coast and the FEMA flood zone, which is why two houses on one street can quote thousands apart. Get a quote on the specific address before you write an offer, and order a wind-mitigation inspection on any older roof. See home insurance by county.
HOA and CDD fees in Jacksonville
62% of current Jacksonville listings carry an HOA, with a median of $88 a month where one applies. About 22% of recent sales were new construction, and most newer master-planned communities also carry a CDD assessment that appears on the tax bill rather than the HOA statement — ask for it on every home. Neither is included in the monthly figure above unless the HOA line says so.
Jacksonville compared with other Florida cities
Same method, same day, for the Florida cities we track most closely: median sale over the last 12 months, the monthly cost of owning that median home, the typical rent, and the county’s Citizens average premium.
| City | Median sale | Est. monthly to own | Median rent (ZORI) | Citizens avg premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hudson | $300,000 | $2,025 | $1,824 | $1,659 |
| Jacksonville | $315,000 | $2,220 | $1,627 | $1,315 |
| Pensacola | $330,000 | $2,347 | $1,800 | $2,364 |
| Plant City | $374,000 | $2,518 | $1,783 | $1,816 |
| St. Augustine | $404,000 | $2,717 | $2,062 | $1,378 |
| Kissimmee | $394,000 | $2,837 | $1,981 | $1,735 |
| Tampa | $430,000 | $2,871 | $1,939 | $1,816 |
| Orlando | $408,000 | $2,928 | $1,994 | $1,409 |
| Dunedin | $422,000 | $2,941 | $2,060 | $1,911 |
| Wesley Chapel | $434,000 | $2,987 | $2,270 | $1,659 |
| Yulee | $456,000 | $3,002 | $2,077 | $1,159 |
| West Palm Beach | $630,000 | $4,766 | $2,241 | $1,753 |
| Fort Lauderdale | $825,000 | $5,675 | $2,610 | $1,561 |
| Ponte Vedra Beach | $930,000 | $5,908 | $2,319 | $1,378 |
| Boca Raton | $1,065,000 | $7,953 | $3,035 | $1,753 |
What this page does not estimate
Groceries, utilities, transportation and healthcare vary less between Florida cities than housing does and are not modeled here; national cost-of-living indices cover them reasonably well. What those indices routinely miss is Florida homeowners insurance and the property-tax reset at purchase, which is why this page is built around them.
For a household comparing Florida cities on total housing cost, Jacksonville is the baseline everything else gets measured against. The variable to control is the neighborhood, because the city is large enough that the median is a blend of very different places.
Common questions about the cost of living in Jacksonville
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<a href="https://movewithmomentum.com/cost-of-living-jacksonville">Cost of Living in Jacksonville, FL (2026): $2,220/mo to Own the Median Home, $1,627 Rent — Momentum Realty</a>Home prices and HOA figures are Momentum Realty’s MLS record of Jacksonville communities as of 2026-09-06; rent, income and price-to-income are Zillow and Census figures by ZIP code pooled over the ZIPs where Jacksonville homes sell; tax and insurance are Duval County figures. Estimates, not quotes. General information, not financial advice. Equal Housing Opportunity.