Introduction
A “winter garden” in the Sunshine State? It’s true—and it’s where 54,371 residents of the Orlando metropolitan area call home.
But don't let the name fool you: like the rest of Florida, Winter Garden has a warm subtropical climate and an average of 236 sunny days a year. And yet, the weather is far from the only reason to live here.
The county has seen a 28.2% increase in jobs over the past decade, and Winter Garden has a thriving business community. The median household income is $76,269, nearly $24,000 above the median reported for Florida in 2017.
Looking for something to do in your free time? Historic Downtown Winter Garden is full of restaurants, shops, cafes, and two museums. Once a defunct movie theater, the Garden Theatre was revitalized by the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation into a performing arts venue that hosts plays, concerts, and films. If you’re looking for even more entertainment, Walt Disney World and Universal Studios are less than a 25-minute drive away. – Olivia Raimonde
Data on Winter Garden
- Population – 54,371
- Median Household Income – $76,269
- Average Home Price – $310,402
- Projected Employment Growth – 10.1%
- Average Travel Time – 29 min
- Sunny Days per Year – 236
Methodology
To create our ranking of the best places to live, [Money.com] analyzed only places with populations of 50,000 or more. Places with 300,000 or more residents were broken down into neighborhoods, and from there, we considered only neighborhoods with an estimated population between 5,000 and 200,000. We excluded any place with a crime rate more than double the national average, a household median income less than 85% of the state’s median, or a lack of ethnic diversity. This left us with 1,796 places.
Next, we collected nearly 160,000 different data points to narrow down the list. We considered data on each location’s economic health, cost of living, ethnic and economic diversity, public education, income, health and safety, ease of living, and amenities—all provided by our research partner, Witlytic. We placed the greatest emphasis on economic factors, housing, health and safety, diversity, and cost of living. Quality of life, education, and local amenities were also critical factors.
Finally, reporters researched each location, interviewing residents and looking for the kinds of intangible factors that aren’t revealed by statistics. To ensure a geographically diverse selection, we limited the list of best places to live to no more than four locations per state and one per municipality. States were represented only once for every 25 spots. Places that made the list last year [2028] were not included in this year’s ranking.
The rankings were derived from more than 80 distinct types of data in the following categories:
Economy – based on the local unemployment rate, historical job growth, projected job growth, and the level of available job opportunities, among other factors.
Cost of living —based on the tax burden, insurance costs, commuting costs, medical expenses, and income adjusted for the cost of living.
Diversity —based on racial composition, racial integration, and economic diversity within a community’s population.
Education —based on the results of math and reading tests and high school graduation rates at the local and municipal levels.
Housing – based on metrics that indicate affordability, supply, and stress, including the average home sales price in 2018, the number of homes sold in 2018, utility cost indices (water, electricity, etc.) and household living costs, the foreclosure rate, and other factors.
Health and safety —based on the number of hospitals and clinics, the number of mental health professionals, dentists, physicians, and general practitioners, property risk and violent crime, and homicide and drug overdose rates.
Amenities – based on the number of recreational activities in the city and surrounding areas, including bars, restaurants, museums, sports complexes, and green spaces.
Quality of life —based on commute times, climate, and other factors.
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This post is our free translation of the original article published by Money.com, which you can read at the link below.