Is Jacksonville, FL a good place to live?

By Jon Brooks, Co-Founder, Momentum Realty

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

Jacksonville homes sold for a median of $310,000 over the last 12 months, -2.1% year over year. Homes take about 43 days to sell and the city holds 3.6 months of supply, which reads as a seller’s market. Owning the median home runs about $1,827 a month with taxes and insurance, against a median household income near $68,447 (27.0% of income). Prices sit at 4.3 times local income, right at the edge of the usual four-times-income yardstick.

What it costs to live in Jacksonville

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 Jacksonville home prices have moved

Appreciation has run -1.2% over the last year, +3.4% a year over five years, +6.6% a year over ten. The median went from $188,065 in 2017 to $310,000 over the last 12 months, +65% in 9 years.

The Jacksonville market right now

What sells here: Single Family Residence 97%, Townhouse 3%.

By price band, where the supply and the waiting are:

Weather, flood and insurance exposure

Insurance is the line item that surprises people. Citizens, the state-backed insurer of last resort, averages $1,315 a year in Duval County across 2,001 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. The Jacksonville hurricane and flood exposure page has the NOAA storm record since 1950, the share of homes in FEMA flood zones and the building-code era of the housing stock.

Who is moving to Jacksonville

IRS county-to-county returns for Duval County show 52,484 people moving in and 51,572 moving out in the latest filing year, a net of +912. Out-of-state arrivals came mostly from GA, CA, VA, NY. Households arriving reported an average adjusted gross income of $67,296 against $68,273 for those leaving. Duval County’s population grew from 924,229 in 2018 to 1,007,189 (+9%), and median household income rose +28% over the same stretch.

The trade-offs, by the numbers

What the numbers argue for: 27.0% of median income to own the median home (inside the 28% guideline); five-year appreciation of +3.4% a year; 3.6 months of supply (a seller's market); Citizens average premium $1,315 a year; net migration +912 people a year into the county; median property tax bill $2,142 a year.

What the numbers argue against: price-to-income of 4.3x (above the four-times rule); prices -2.1% over the last year, which favors buyers on price and hurts recent sellers.

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 Jacksonville

• Homes for sale in Jacksonville, FL
• Best neighborhoods in Jacksonville
• Moving to Jacksonville: the guide
• Cost of living in Jacksonville
• Jacksonville housing market tracker
• Recently sold homes in Jacksonville (aggregates)
• Duval County property tax guide
• Jacksonville hurricane and flood risk
• How to find the best real estate agent in Jacksonville

Common questions

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.