Best Neighborhoods to Buy a Home in Jacksonville

Reading a city that is also a county

Jacksonville and Duval County have been consolidated since 1968, which makes the city one of the largest by land area in the continental US. Neighborhoods that feel suburban, rural or urban all share one city government and one property tax structure. The beach cities of Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach and Neptune Beach are separate, and their typical values run from about $636,883 to $790,947, more than double the city's all-homes figure of $284,832.

Zillow's values below are for all home types. Where a neighborhood has many condos or townhomes, the number reads lower than a house there would cost.

Under $230,000: Westside and older Southside areas

• Baymeadows: about $190,143 (1y -9.8%, 5y -11.9%)
• Cedar Hills: about $190,827 (1y -2.4%, 5y 14.9%)
• Hillcrest: about $200,442 (1y -1.2%, 5y 15.2%)
• Highlands: about $201,493 (1y 0.4%, 5y 18.5%)
• Hyde Park: about $201,668 (1y -0.1%, 5y 12.8%)
• Windy Hill: about $204,805 (1y -7.0%, 5y 4.8%)
• Jacksonville Heights: about $222,464 (1y 0.0%, 5y 18.8%)
• Oak Hill: about $224,369 (1y -1.9%, 5y 13.6%)
• Woodland Acres: about $225,135 (1y 1.7%, 5y 21.9%)
• Ortega Hills: about $228,915 (1y -2.9%, 5y 13.0%)

Baymeadows is the only neighborhood on the list that is lower now than five years ago. It sits on the Southside near I-95 and J. Turner Butler Boulevard, with a lot of condo and townhome stock, and its drop mirrors the city's 6.4% condo decline. Windy Hill shows a similar pattern. Westside areas like Cedar Hills, Hyde Park and Ortega Hills offer some of the lowest house prices in the city, mostly older ranch homes.

$230,000 to $300,000: the starter-house band

• Murray Hill: about $231,843 (1y -5.2%, 5y 12.0%)
• Holiday Hill: about $239,320 (1y 0.8%, 5y 22.8%)
• Englewood: about $248,903 (1y 0.6%, 5y 22.5%)
• Southside Estates: about $251,104 (1y 0.1%, 5y 14.1%)
• Arlington Hills: about $258,650 (1y 0.0%, 5y 16.9%)
• Turtle Creek: about $260,893 (1y 1.2%, 5y 24.2%)
• Deerwood: about $273,893 (1y -4.8%, 5y 3.8%)
• Duclay: about $291,723 (1y -2.9%, 5y 10.3%)
• Loretto: about $295,274 (1y 0.8%, 5y 23.4%)

Murray Hill, just west of Riverside, has older bungalows and a small commercial strip along Edgewood Avenue, and it gave back 5.2% last year after earlier gains. Turtle Creek, Holiday Hill and Englewood have the strongest five-year records in this band, all above 22%. Loretto, in the Mandarin area, is the most expensive here and has kept rising.

$300,000 to $370,000: Northside, Arlington and the historic core

• Glynlea - Grove Park: about $301,063 (1y 3.4%, 5y 24.5%)
• Chimney Lakes: about $307,638 (1y -1.2%, 5y 10.6%)
• Jacksonville Farms-Terrace: about $326,483 (1y -1.8%, 5y 14.4%)
• Crystal Springs: about $329,146 (1y -0.9%, 5y 15.3%)
• Craven: about $330,127 (1y -0.4%, 5y 20.8%)
• North Beach: about $330,227 (1y -1.6%, 5y 25.2%)
• Oceanway: about $334,797 (1y 0.6%, 5y 14.9%)
• Del Rio: about $336,913 (1y -0.7%, 5y 14.2%)
• Sunbeam: about $339,719 (1y 0.7%, 5y 19.2%)
• Sandalwood: about $344,692 (1y 0.2%, 5y 17.0%)
• Mandarin Station - Losco: about $348,941 (1y -0.6%, 5y 17.8%)
• Pecan Park: about $360,479 (1y -0.5%, 5y 12.6%)
• Riverside: about $367,157 (1y 0.1%, 5y 7.2%)

Riverside is Jacksonville's best-known historic neighborhood, with early 20th-century homes, the Five Points shopping district and the St. Johns River on one side. Its five-year gain of 7.2% is among the lowest on the list, so prices there have not run ahead the way they have in much of the city. Expect older systems: a 4-point inspection and a careful look at the roof, wiring and plumbing are standard on houses of that age. Oceanway, on the Northside, has many newer subdivisions, so check for CDD assessments there.

Above $380,000: Mandarin, Julington Creek and the southeast

• East Arlington: about $388,345 (1y 1.5%, 5y 22.5%)
• Greenland: about $403,637 (1y 0.8%, 5y 20.8%)
• Sans Pareil: about $403,644 (1y 0.7%, 5y 20.2%)
• Julington Creek: about $455,913 (1y 1.3%, 5y 21.8%)
• Golden Glades - The Woods: about $467,208 (1y 1.9%, 5y 22.8%)
• Mandarin: about $521,211 (1y 1.8%, 5y 26.0%)

Mandarin, along the east bank of the St. Johns River in the south of the city, has the highest typical value on the list and the best five-year gain in this band at 26.0%. Julington Creek sits near the St. Johns County line. Nearly every neighborhood here rose last year, which is the opposite of the condo-heavy Southside areas.

Narrowing it down

I start with commute, then house age, then flood zone. Jacksonville is wide, and a home on the Westside and a job at the beaches can mean a long daily drive across the river, so I map the bridges and highways you would actually use before anything else.

House age splits the city fairly cleanly. The older neighborhoods near the urban core and on the Westside have more houses from the middle of the last century, which means lower prices and more inspection work. The Northside and the far south have more recent subdivisions, with newer roofs and systems but often HOA dues and CDD assessments on top of the price. Areas near the river and its creeks need a FEMA zone check for every address, and newer subdivisions need a CDD check. Tell me your budget and where you will drive each day, and I will put together a shortlist of neighborhoods and homes.