10 Cheapest Cities To Live in Florida

Florida attracts many people to live and retire with its generally impressive climate, great beaches, fun entertainment and, most importantly, its lower cost of living. While Florida may be a cheaper place to live overall compared to other U.S. states, the 10 cities on this list are some of the most affordable all around in the state.

To find the 10 cheapest cities to live in Florida, GOBankingRates gathered a list of all the cities in Florida and sourced population and median household income from the US Census American Consumer Survey. The top 100 cities were narrowed down by key expenditures including groceries, healthcare, utilities, housing, transportation and miscellaneous costs, and ranked according to overall annual expenditures. Here are the 10 cheapest cities to live in Florida.

• Total population: 118,709
• Median household income: $55,963
• Annual expenditures: $31,164.89

Palm Bay is the biggest city on this list, which makes it no surprise that its overall annual expenditures are slightly higher. Still, housing is 22.5% cheaper than the national average here, at just $10,274.95 per year.

• Total population: 62,531
• Median household income: $54,956
• Annual expenditures:  $30,777.64

In Port Charlotte, transportation and housing come the cheapest, at $4,426.28 and $10,712.46 per year respectively.

• Total population: 48,707
• Median household income: $50,842
• Annual expenditures: $30,716.90

In Winter Haven, residents pay 28% less in housing than the rest of the nation, or $9,545.76 annually. Transportation costs are also 9% below average, though utilities are 2.2% more expensive at $4,315.91 per year.

• Total population: 110,401
• Median household income: $52,972
• Annual expenditures:  $30,686.92

The larger city of Lakeland also has slightly higher expenses. This includes groceries, which are 2.7% higher than national average, and utilities, which are 2.2% above average. However housing and transportation are below the national average.

• Total population: 48,158
• Median household income: $50,383
• Annual expenditures: $30,168.30

In the city of Titusville, all expenditures fall below the national average except for miscellaneous expenditures. Housing is especially low, at just $9,466.21 per year.

• Total population: 46,409
• Median household income: $40,323
• Annual expenditures:  $30,149.71

Groceries and healthcare take the biggest chunks of one’s income in Fort Pierce, at $5,343.14 and $5,653.72 respectively. However, all other expenditures fall below the national average.

• Total population: 71,041
• Median household income: $42,392
• Annual expenditures:  $29,573.74

Healthcare is almost 3% higher than the national average here in Daytona Beach, at $5,599.20 per year. However, housing is extremely reasonable, at $8,843.09 per year.

• Total population: 53,845
• Median household income: $59,119
• Annual expenditures: $29,286.82

Utilities take a significant bite out of finances in Pensacola, at 5.3% higher than the national average, or $4,446.82 per year. However, housing is only $8,352.54 per year, or 37% lower than the national average.

• Total population: 62,351
• Median household income: $46,841
• Annual expenditures:  $28,821.85 

Utilities in Ocala are 4.2% above the national average, at $4,400.37 per year, and groceries are barely below the national average, at $5,159.08 annually. However, all other expenditures fall below the national average.

• Total population: 48,367
• Median household income: $30,945
• Annual expenditures: $27,231.23

Though University takes the No. 1 spot for cheapest Florida cities, ironically it has several expenditure categories that are above the national average. Groceries are 3.4% higher, transportation is 17.9% higher and miscellaneous expenditures are 5.3% higher. But it has the cheapest housing on the list, which is a stunning 66% lower than the national average.

Methodology: To find the Cheapest Cities to Live in Florida, GOBankingRates gathered a list of all the cities in Florida with their population and median household income sourced from the US Census American Consumer Survey. The top 100 cities by population were kept for the study and for each city the; [1] Grocery cost of living, [2] Healthcare cost of living, [3] Utilities cost of living, [4] Housing cost of living, [5] Transportation cost of living, [6] Miscellaneous cost of living were sourced from Sperlings BestPlaces. Each cost of living index was multiplied by its respective average annual expenditure category sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey to find an average cost for each expenditure category within each city. The expenditures were summed up and sorted to show the cheapest places to live in Florida. All data was collected and is up-to-date as of July 19th, 2023.