Is Dade City, FL a good place to live?
Data as of September 16, 2026. Figures are aggregates from licensed MLS records, IRS migration files, Zillow indexes, Census income and population, and Citizens Property Insurance; sources are named where they appear.
The short answer, by the numbers
Dade City homes sold for a median of $354,820 over the last 12 months, -3.4% year over year. Homes take about 52 days to sell and the city holds 6.6 months of supply, which reads as a buyer’s market. Owning the median home runs about $2,030 a month with taxes and insurance, against a median household income near $67,384 (30.7% of income). Prices sit at 4.9 times local income, a stretch by the usual four-times-income yardstick.
What it costs to live in Dade City
| Median sale price (12 months) | $354,820 |
| Price per square foot | $175/sq ft |
| Typical monthly cost to own the median home | $2,030 (principal, interest, taxes, insurance) |
| Median household income | $67,384 |
| Price-to-income ratio | 4.9x |
| Share of income to own the median home | 30.7% |
| Median property tax bill | $2,028/yr |
| Typical rent (county, Zillow ZORI) | $2,025/mo |
| Citizens Property Insurance average premium (county) | $1,659/yr |
The cost-to-own figure is principal and interest at today’s prevailing 30-year rate with a 20% down payment, plus the county’s median tax bill and a typical insurance premium. Your own number moves with the rate you lock and the home’s flood zone and roof.
How Dade City home prices have moved
Appreciation has run -2.5% over the last year, +3.6% a year over five years, +7.0% a year over ten. The median went from $153,928 in 2014 to $354,820 over the last 12 months, +131% in 12 years.
| Year | Median sale | Closings | Days on market | $/sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | $153,928 | 76 | 84 | $78 |
| 2015 | $265,120 | 74 | 122 | $112 |
| 2016 | $207,436 | 167 | 47 | $95 |
| 2017 | $201,151 | 200 | 64 | $98 |
| 2021 | $525,555 | 18 | 8 | $176 |
| 2022 | $384,864 | 221 | 14 | $188 |
| 2023 | $370,017 | 82 | 43 | $183 |
| 2024 | $385,077 | 436 | 39 | $195 |
| 2025 | $388,587 | 532 | 72 | $184 |
| 2026 | $387,228 | 666 | 52 | $176 |
The Dade City market right now
| Homes for sale | 135 |
| Under contract | 50 |
| Sold in the last 12 months | 327 |
| Months of supply | 6.6 |
| Sale-to-list price | 95% |
| Listings with a price cut | 31.9% |
| Cash purchases (latest year) | 19% |
| New-construction share of sales | 70% |
What sells here: Single Family Residence 96%, Villa 1%, Manufactured Home - Post 1977 1%.
By price band, where the supply and the waiting are:
| Price band | For sale | Sold, 12 mo | Months of supply | Days on market |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $300K | 18 | 61 | 3.5 | 58 |
| $300K–$500K | 71 | 217 | 3.9 | 64 |
| $500K–$750K | 46 | 49 | 11.3 | 71 |
Weather, flood and insurance exposure
Insurance is the line item that surprises people. Citizens, the state-backed insurer of last resort, averages $1,659 a year in Pasco County across 8,233 policies. Roof age, wind-mitigation features and flood zone move a quote more than anything else, so price insurance before you write an offer, not after.
Who is moving to Dade City
IRS county-to-county returns for Pasco County show 52,217 people moving in and 33,787 moving out in the latest filing year, a net of +18,430. Out-of-state arrivals came mostly from NY, NJ, IL, CA. Households arriving reported an average adjusted gross income of $76,486 against $62,180 for those leaving. Pasco County’s population grew from 510,593 in 2018 to 588,758 (+15%), and median household income rose +34% over the same stretch.
The trade-offs, by the numbers
What the numbers argue for: five-year appreciation of +3.6% a year; Citizens average premium $1,659 a year; net migration +18,430 people a year into the county; median property tax bill $2,028 a year.
What the numbers argue against: price-to-income of 4.9x (above the four-times rule); 30.7% of median income to own the median home (over the 28% guideline); prices -3.4% over the last year, which favors buyers on price and hurts recent sellers; 6.6 months of supply (a buyer's market).
None of this describes the people who live here; it describes what it costs to buy in, what you carry each month, and how the market has treated owners. Neighborhood fit is a visit, not a statistic.
Keep researching Dade City
- Homes for sale in Dade City, FL
- Best neighborhoods in Dade City
- Moving to Dade City: the guide
- Cost of living in Dade City
- Dade City housing market tracker
- Pasco County property tax guide
- How to find the best real estate agent in Dade City
Common questions
Is Dade City expensive to live in?
Is it a buyer’s or seller’s market in Dade City right now?
Are home values in Dade City going up?
How bad is hurricane and insurance risk in Dade City?
What are property taxes like in Dade City?
Where do people moving to Dade City come from?
Market figures are aggregates as of September 16, 2026 and change over time; no individual sale is shown. General information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Equal Housing Opportunity.