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Lake Butler.

All Lake Butler data Compare Lake Butler

17,125people live here $182,500median household income▲ 126% above US $2,487median rent per month▲ 76% above US $930,500median home value▲ 180% above US

Lake Butler is an unincorporated community in Orange County, FL. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in Lake Butler

Lake Butler is an unincorporated community in Florida with household incomes running above the national average and a highly educated workforce. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Lake Butler deals with rent well above the national average, home prices well above the national average, a population that has been shrinking, and larger class sizes than the national average.

The good

Higher-than-average incomes
Highly educated workforce

The not so good

Rent well above the national average
High home prices
Shrinking population
High student-teacher ratio
High rent burden for renters
Hot summers

How Lake Butler compares

Median household income

Lake Butler$182,500

Florida avg$74,568

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Lake Butler$2,487

Florida avg$1,669

US$1,413

Median home value

Lake Butler$930,500

Florida avg$359,000

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Lake Butler

Based on Lake Butler's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$4,974

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $99,480 a year
64% of Lake Butler renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$186,100

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $93,050
Homes cost 5.1× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▲ 76% above US

$2,487/mo median rent

Rent is expensive here, at $2,487 a month median and well above the national average. This is the kind of city where housing costs deserve serious budgeting before committing to a move. Home prices are steep, with a median around $930,500. Renting first to get a feel for the city before buying is often the more practical route.

Median home value $930,500 · 64% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

3.8% county unemployment

Unemployment in Orange County is 3.8%, close to the national average of 4.3%. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Orange County (county-wide)

Safety

404 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Lake Butler doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Orange County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs above the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 1424/100k · Policed by Orange County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting aroundNear US average

28 min average commute

Commutes run about average, at 27.8 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 7 in 10 workers drive to work; 23% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

70%

Work from home

23%

Carpool

3.6%

Other

2.6%

Walk

0.3%

Climate

Summers are hot and humid, with highs regularly hitting 92°F, and winters are mild, with lows rarely dropping below 50°F. Rainfall is regular throughout the year.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▲ 78% above US

64% bachelor's degree or higher

This is a highly educated city, with over half the adult population holding a college degree. That tends to shape the job market and the broader culture, and it's a solid indicator of a strong professional scene.

Schools

3 public schools inside the boundary

There are 3 public schools inside the boundary and 2 private schools. The student-to-teacher ratio is 21:1, above the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Canaveral National Seashore (52 miles away). There are 4 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Lake Butler's strongest points are household incomes running above the national average and a highly educated workforce; the main tradeoffs are rent well above the national average and home prices well above the national average. A year of median rent ($2,487/mo) equals 16% of the median household income here, less than the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit remote workers (23% of workers here already work from home) and college-educated professionals. It may be a harder fit for renters on a tight budget.

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